BENGALURU, May 14 (Reuters) – India’s Muthoot Finance on Thursday reported a doubling in fourth-quarter profit, driven by strong growth in its gold-loan portfolio.
• The country’s largest gold loan financier posted a 105% jump in net profit to 30.86 billion rupees ($322.26 million) for the quarter ended March 31
• Its standalone gold loan assets under management rose 50% year-on-year, taking total AUM 50% higher to 1.63 trillion rupees
• Total revenue from operations rose 68.5% to 81.80 billion rupees
• Net interest margin or lending margins rose to 13.38% for the quarter from 12.77% in the previous quarter and 11.27% a year earlier
• Analysts expected Indian gold loan financiers to see strong loan growth in March quarter amid high prices for the precious metal
• Earlier this month, smaller peer Manappuram Finance reported a bigger-than-expected profit helped by strong gold-loan growth
($1 = 95.7625 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Ronoojoy Mazumdar)
