Microfinance company Bharat Financial Inclusion said that it has received clearance from Competition Commission of India for its merger with IndusInd BankBSE 0.47 % while approvals from Reserve Bank of India and other statutory bodies are still under process.
The merger may take another six months to formalise, the company said, after announcing 14% rise in third quarter net profit. The merger was announced on October 14, last year.
The country’s largest microfinance company reported a net profit of Rs 162.6 crore for the quarter to December, compared with Rs 142.8 crore in the year ago period. Its gross loan portfolio grew 34% year on year to Rs 11,466 crore.
It announced improvement in cumulative collection efficiency to 99.8% for loans disbursed after December 2016, which constitutes 89% of its loan portfolio.
The company has written off loans worth Rs 17.7 crore in the December quarter helping it to reduce gross non-performing assets to 4.6% from 5.2% in the preceding quarter.
It returned to making profit in the September quarter, reversing the preceding two quarters of losses it suffered due to demonetization-led non repayment of loans.
The MFI, where Reliance Mutual Fund is the largest shareholder with 6.1% interest, has 66 lakhs borrowers and 1,513 branches.
The company announced its profit number after market hours. Its share price Tuesday ended 0.65% lower to Rs 1025 on BSE.
Source: Economic Times