M&M Financial sees agri demand to pick up in upcoming festive season; Logs 34 yoy% rise in Q2 PAT

Mumbai-headquartered rural NBFC, M&M Financial Services recorded a consolidated net profit of Rs353 cr for the quarter ended September 2020 (Q2FY21), compared to Rs264cr in the corresponding period of the previous year, registering 34% growth. On Tuesday, the company's stock will remain in focus following Q2 announcement.

Consolidated total income also increased by 5% to Rs3,071cr in the quarter under review, as against Rs2,936cr a year ago same period.

M&M Financial in its audit report said, the rural market has remained sufficiently insulated from the COVID-19 pandemic and is recovering from its impact. Almost all the Company’s branches are up and running, except in the major metros. After a few months of disruption due to COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, we see that markets are now beginning to look up and the sentiments are turning positive. Businesses are returning to normal and customer footfalls at the dealerships and our branches have substantially improved.

Further, the company said, tractors, passenger caRsand Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) are seeing healthy demand.

Other key highlights of the quarter as per the filing  are:

During the period ended September 30, 2020, the Company’s customer base has crossed 6.9M.

The Total value of assets financed for the half-year ended September 30, 2020, was Rs8,888cr.

In the quarter, M&M Financial has considered an additional charge of Rs433cr (half-year ended September 30, 2020: Rs910cr) due to a management overlay, to reflect deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook. As of September 30,2020, the cumulative amount of management overlay provisions stood at Rs1,484cr.

The standalone Assets Under Management (AUM) stood at Rs81,682cr as on September 30, 2020, as against Rs72,732cr as on the corresponding reporting date last year, registering a growth of 12%.

The Company maintains very healthy capital adequacy of 25.1% and has adequate Capital and Financial Resources to run its business.

The Company’s capital and debt position are strong and the ALM position is well balanced.

Outlook ahead:

M&M Financial said, agri demand continues to be strong on the back of a good monsoon and harvest. We expect demand to further pick-up in the upcoming festival season. The Government focus on infrastructure and mining sectoRsis likely to further shore up demand, going forward.

It added pre-owned vehicles will continue to be a growth driver. The Company also expects to see an increase in digitally enabled lending and collections in rural and semi-urban markets. The Company had already embarked on a digital strategy and is equipped to facilitate financing as well as repayment of instalments, via the digital route.