SKS Microfinance pruned its net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, by almost a third to Rs 262.15 crore over Q2 FY12, but the loss rocketed over sixfold sequentially, over the three months ended June 30, 2012.
The public-listed microlender, once the largest in the country, saw income from operations skid 37 per cent over the second quarter last year even as it rose 4 per cent sequentially over Q1 FY13. Recent financial performance shows that the declining income from operations could have bottomed out in the quarter ended December 31, 2011, when the firm also clocked a record quarterly loss.
The company’s scrip rose 1.9 per cent to close at Rs 120.25 a share on the BSE in a flat Mumbai market on Monday. The share price has more than doubled in the past five months.
SKS marked provisions and write-offs worth Rs 233.5 crore for the last quarter, which pushed net loss up on a sequential basis, but this provisioning was a third less than the amount marked for the same quarter last financial year.
During the last quarter, the microlender raised Rs 230 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) and simultaneously raised another Rs 33.5 crore through a preferential allotment to WestBridge, an existing investor.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)