Shares of SKS Microfinance, the only listed microfinance firm in India, gained 3% at Rs 193 in an otherwise weak market on sharp rise in profitability for the third quarter ended December 2013.
The company reported a net profit of Rs 21.42 crore for the quarter ended December, 2013, as compared with just Rs 1.15 crore in the corresponding period of the last financial year.
The company’s third quarter performance — its fifth consecutive quarter of profit since its turnaround — marks a departure from the troubled past.
Sequentially, net profit for the quarter under review grew 31 per cent.
The impressive profitability numbers came on the back of a 54.83 per cent jump in total income for the quarter at Rs 139.66 crore, as compared with Rs 90.20 crore in the year-ago period.
The growth in net profit was far higher as compared with the growth in income, as there was no tax liability during this period. The third quarter also passed off without requiring to make any fresh provisions and write offs and instead the company had shown a reversal of Rs 1.67 crore under this head.
