Manappuram Finance reported a surprise fourth-quarter loss on May 9, hurt by a surge in bad loans in its microfinance vertical.
Bad loans and provisions in Manappuram's microfinance unit rose over five-fold to Rs 849 crore, accounting for a large chunk of total company-wide provisions of Rs 919 crore
The Kerala-based gold loan financier's consolidated net loss was Rs 191 crore for the January-March period, compared with a profit of Rs 562 crore a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting a profit of 2.91 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
Meanwhile, Manappuram's gold loan portfolio rose 14% to Rs 1,850 crore as bullion prices hit multiple record highs in the January-March period. The segment contributes 75% of total revenue.
Rising gold prices increase how much a customer can borrow against bullion, benefiting gold financiers in terms of loans issued.
The company's total assets under management rose 2.3% to Rs 43,034 crore, while its net interest income - the difference between interest earned and paid out - declined 6.7% to Rs 1,464 crore.
The shares of the company had closed 0.37 percent higher at Rs 228.70 apiece on May 9. The results of the company were released in the post-market hours.
Along with the Q4 results, Manappuram Finance declared an interim dividend of Rs 0.50 per share. The record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders set to receive the payment has been set for May 15.
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