Kerala-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) Muthoot Finance is planning to open 114 new branches across India in the next two or three months, said Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot, in an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol on August 17.
“We have got another approval for 114 branches, which will be open in the next two-three months. Notably, we are planning to open it all across India, said Muthoot.
Notably, Muthoot Finance opened 59 new branches in Q1FY24. At present, it has a total of 4,742 branches.
The MD also said that he is aiming for a 10-15 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in its gold loans assets under management (AUM) in the current financial year.
“We had been doing 15-20 percent growth in gold loans AUM consistently except for the last year. So this year, we have given a guidance of 10-15 percent. So I think we should be able to do that easily this year, or a little more also,” he said.
He further added that gold loan demand is going strong, and branches on the outskirts are doing extremely well.
He noted that the gold loan market is expanding and commercial banks that entered the gold loan segment two years ago were doing well and expanding.
Explaining reasons for the increasing competition in the gold loan portfolio, Muthoot said that it is a very safe portfolio.
Muthoot Finance reported a 21.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase in standalone net profit at Rs 975.1 crore for the first quarter that ended June 30, 2023.
The company’s consolidated loan assets under management grew 21 percent year-on-year to Rs 76,799 crore in Q1 of FY24 as against Rs 63,444 crore in the same quarter last year.
George Jacob Muthoot, chairman of The Muthoot Group said, “Our subsidiaries, Muthoot Homefin, and Belstar Microfinance continue to report strong disbursements and as a result, the contribution of our subsidiaries to the overall consolidated loan AUM has increased to 11 percent”.
“With the continued focus on loan disbursements and recovery efforts, we are confident of maintaining our NIMs around 11 percent,” the MD of Muthoot Finance said.
He also said that the non-gold loan segments continue to witness an improved business environment, and the new products-small business loans and micro-personal loans have reported good traction in Q1FY24.
