Ugro Capital reports Rs 20.3 crore net profit in March quarter

SMEs-focused non-banking lender Ugro Capital on Thursday reported a Rs 20.3 crore net profit in the March quarter, as it completes the first full-year of operations, despite higher provisioning in the wake of COVID-19.

Total income rose 28.4 per cent to Rs 37.1 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 28.9 crore in Q3, the company said.

According to its chairman and managing director Shachindra Nath, the good set of numbers is despite adopting a conservative approach to COVID-19 impact on loans and making Rs 3.3 crore specific provisions for this to ward off any asset quality crisis, and also to ensure that there are no negative surprises because over 80 per cent of customers have opted for loan moratorium.

Disbursals rose to Rs 1,366 crore in the year in spite of loss of 20 productive days in March, the company, which had reported nearly Rs 7 crore profit a year ago, said, adding the asset under management (AUM) stood at Rs 861 crore.

However, for the full year, net income was lower than the quarterly numbers at Rs 19.5 crore, up from around Rs 4 crore.

Its total income stood at Rs 37.14 crore, up from Rs 28.9 crore for the quarter and at Rs 105.14 crore for the full year, which was Rs 44 crore in FY19.

The March quarter bottomline was boosted by over Rs 9 crore of other income.

Of the total loan of Rs 1,366 crore, 69 per cent is secured and the largest sectoral and geographical concentrations stand at 20 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively, the company claimed without offering break-ups.

Ugro also said over 80 per cent of 7,760 customers have opted for the three-month loan moratorium.

It maintains a strong liquidity with over Rs 200 crore of cash and equivalents, and Rs 127.5 crore of committed debt sanctions. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at Rs 85.06 per cent, well above the industry average.

Its liabilities stood at Rs 295 crore and networth at Rs 922 crore. Since inception the company has raised Rs 920 crore of capital from a diversified set of private equity funds like institutional investors and well-known family offices.

The Ugro Capital counter was trading 5 per cent up at Rs 121.25 on the BSE.