Fullerton India Credit Company Limited registered a profit after tax of Rs. 43 Crores for the first quarter of the financial year 2013-14, a growth of 51% over the first quarter of the previous financial year. The company grew its customer assets by 22%, with disbursals increasing by 27% compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Commenting on the results, Shantanu Mitra, CEO & MD said, “We are pleased with the way we have progressed over the last few quarters, notwithstanding a challenging economic environment. The first quarter of the year continues the trend of strong traction and stable growth.
Our growth continues to be guard-railed by strong underwriting policies, incisive analytics, conservative funding and strong operational risk management processes. These have held us in good stead, and have helped us deliver strong results. We continue to be well-funded and our portfolio quality remains strong.
Improving cost efficiency has also allowed us to reinvest in the franchise – we will continue to expand our presence, and we will invest in front-end customer-facing infrastructure. We added 21 rural branches in the current quarter, and we now cater to over 400 towns and cities and over 15000 villages, across 20 states.
We will continue to grow prudently, and responsibly, and we will continue to be innovative in delivering solutions to our customers.”
Fullerton India’s customer base of nearly one million comprises Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small transporters and salaried individuals in large towns and cities, and micro-enterprises in rural markets. Its products now include Mortgage loans, SME and Business loans, Commercial vehicle and Two-wheeler loans, Personal loans, Rural Livelihood loans, Rural Mortgage and Housing Finance. Fullerton India’s rural business, which operates under the Gramshakti brand, increased its presence in the rural markets to 144 branches covering more than 200 towns and over 15,000 villages. The company also markets a range of insurance products of leading Insurers to its customers.
With its expanding network and larger range of products, it expects higher growth in assets in the near term. Fullerton India is adequately capitalized with capital adequacy at 23.38%, against a growing book that stands at Rs.5141 Crores as on 30 June’13 – a growth of 22% over Q1 of the last financial year.
Fullerton India’s CSR programme that focuses on rural livelihood advancement initiatives has made a tremendous impact on the rural catchments it serves. Last year alone the company conducted over 700 programs benefitting more than 31,000 rural households. In June’13, the company was awarded the Award for Best CSR Practice & Best Community Program Award at the Responsible Business Summit and the Corporate Excellence Award for Best Community Development Program for its unique Rural Livelihood Advancement initiatives.
Fullerton India Credit Company Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fullerton Financial Holdings, Singapore, which is a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings of Singapore.
