Commercial Vehicle financier, Shriram Transport Finance Corporation (STFC) on Friday said its first quarter net profit dropped 14 per cent on a consolidated basis as it went slow on loan disbursements to mitigate the challenging economic environment.
The non-banking finance company logged a net profit of ₹313 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2014 compared to ₹366 crore, a year ago. Consolidated results include the performance of subsidiaries — Shriram Equipment Finance and Shriram Automall.
Explaining the slowdown in growth, Umesh Revankar, Managing Director & CEO, said: “The last four quarters kept getting tougher and tougher because of deterioration in the economic environment.”
The company’s total assets under management also recorded a muted year-on-year growth. It grew to ₹57,756 crore as on June 30, 2014 from ₹55,650 crore, a year ago. Finance Costs during the period increased to ₹1,053 crore from ₹938 crore, a year ago.
Revankar also said that while the demand remains good in rural and semi-urban areas, demand in urban areas has to show traction.
Shares of the Mumbai-based non-banking finance company closed at ₹890 per share, up 1.33 per cent on the BSE.