Manappuram Finance on August 13 reported a 12 percent jump in first-quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 555 crore, helped by strong gold-loan growth.
The gold-loan provider's June quarter net profit was in line with analysts' expectations, according to LSEG data.
The net profit stood at Rs 495.89 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, while it was at Rs 561.53 crore in the March quarter, according to the company statement.
The firm also declared a dividend of Re 1 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 and fixed August 26 as the record date, according to the exchange filing.
On August 13, the shares of the company fell 2.34 percent to Rs 205 on NSE.
Benchmark spot gold prices have risen more than 20 percent as of June-end from a year ago, hitting record highs, bolstering loan growth for lenders such as Manappuram.
Rising prices of bullion benefit gold financiers by increasing the value of pledged gold collateral, and driving growth as more customers seek loans against their higher-valued assets.
Analysts expect Manappuram to also have benefited from a regulatory ban on key competitor IIFL Finance disbursing gold loans.
Revenue from Manappuram's gold loan and other businesses rose 23.5 percent to Rs 1,737 crore, while its microfinance arm posted a near 18 percent revenue growth to Rs 775 crore.
Its assets under management rose 21.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 44,900 crore.
Finance cost rose about 31 percent, leading to a near 28 percent rise in total expenses, after central bank raised risk weights for bank loans given to non-banking financial companies.
The company's provision for bad loans jumped 80 percent to Rs 229 crore.
Larger rival Muthoot Finance posted an 11 percent rise in first-quarter profit but missed analysts' estimates.
(With Reuters input)
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