Profit before tax in Q1 FY21 stood at Rs 100.46 crore, down 32.2% over Q1 FY20. Current tax expense declined 5.2% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 53.30 crore during the period under review.

Net Interest Income (NII) jumped 55.2% to Rs 383.2 crore in Q1 FY21 from Rs 246.9 crore crore in Q1 FY20. Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 12.6% as on 30 June 2020. Gross loan portfolio grew by 53.9% YoY to Rs 11,724 crore in Q1 FY21.

The microfinance institution's total expected credit loss (ECL) provisions were at Rs 476.8 crore (4.21% of loan portfolio). This includes additional provisions of Rs 152.5 crore during the quarter, on account of COVID-19 impact. The total COVID-19 additional provisioning buffer was at Rs 245.6 crore (2.17% of loan portfolio). The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 1.63% as on 30 June 2020.

The company said that with improving collections trend, loan book under moratorium declined from 100% in April & May to 26% in June and 24% in July.

Commenting on the performance, Udaya Kumar Hebbar, managing director and CEO of CreditAccess Grameen, said, “Our focus during the first quarter was on stabilising field collections, maintaining continuous customer connect and mobilising sufficient liquidity. Despite several intermittent localised lockdowns / restrictions, we were able to improve our collection efficiency to 74% by June and 76% by July. Even in case of MMFL (Madura Micro Finance), there was significant improvement in collection efficiency from 54% in June to 64% in July.

Disbursements were resumed in the last week of June and gradually ramped up in July reaching cumulative disbursement of Rs 573 crore in June and July. Our standalone liquidity position remains strong with cash balance of Rs 1,420 crore as on 30th July, on the back of continued support from our lenders and improving collections from field.

Our credit rating was recently affirmed by CRISIL, who rated us A+ (stable outlook) amid current volatile environment caused by COVID-19 pandemic. This underscores our strong business model, robust balance sheet with adequate risk and capital buffers and leadership position in microfinance industry.”

CreditAccess Grameen is a microfinance institution focused on providing micro-loans to women customers predominantly in rural areas across India. The company is now operating in 230 districts in the 13 states and one union territory in the country through 929 branches.

The stock rose 1.86% to Rs 524.60. It traded in the range of 500 and 540.75 so far during the day.