Gold loans major, Muthoot Finance, is planning a Rs 700 crore retain non-convertible debenture (NCD) issue, the company’s third issue this financial year. The second issue for Rs 600 crore met with a tepid response even after an attractive 13.25 per cent interest rate on offer.

With the third issue, the total sum raised by Muthoot Finance through retail non-convertible debentures this financial year would go up to Rs 1,750 crore. In the first issue, against an issue size of Rs 1,000 crore, the company raised Rs 693 crore, and in the second issue, it raised Rs 460 crore against an issue size of Rs 600 crore.

“The idea to come out with the third issue is the same as the first two issues, that is, to diversify our credit source. During the previous issues, many investors could not participate and there were a lot of enquiries. We thought we should come out with a third issue,” said Oommen K Mammen, chief financial officer, Muthoot Finance.

The interest rate for the third issue, however, may not be much higher than the 13.25 per cent offered during the second issue, he said, considering the interest rates have peaked.

In its financial results for the quarter ended December 2011, Muthoot Finance has clocked a 61 per cent growth with a net profit of Rs 251 crore, against Rs 155 crore registered in the corresponding quarter last year.

Total income grew by an impressive 91 per cent to Rs 1,231 crore during the quarter, indicating the kind of opportunities present in the gold loans business. The net interest margins, however, slipped to 10.81 per cent during the quarter, against 11.24 per cent in the third quarter of last year, due to the interest rate pressure. Capital adequacy ratio improved to 18.33 per cent, against 15.29 per cent last year.

The total outstanding gold loans of the bank stood at Rs 22, 695 crore as of December 2011, with a 66 per cent growth over the previous year. The average ticket size of the loans also increased to Rs 39,944, against Rs 31,944 last year.

rsrividhya

@mydigitalfc.com