Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Muthoot Finance Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call, hosted by DAM Capital Advisors Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sanket Chheda from DAM Capital Advisors Limited. Thank you, and over to you.
Yeah, hi. Very good evening to all of you. We have with us the entire management team of Muthoot Finance today to discuss their Q3 results. From management side, we have Mr. George Alexander Muthoot, who is the Managing Director, Mr. Alexander George, who is a whole-time director, Mr. George M. Alexander, who is a whole-time director, Mr. George M. George, whole-time director, George M. Jacob, whole-time director, and Mr. Eapen Alexander, who is an executive director, K.R. Bijimon, Executive Director, and lastly, Mr. Oommen Mammen, who is the CFO of the company. Without further ado, I'll hand the call over to MD, sir, for the opening remarks, and we'll follow that up with question and answers. Over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening to all. This is George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director. Along with me, I have the CFO, the COO, and the, some of the other directors also, because today we just finished the board meeting. That is why we have the luxury of having some of the other board members also present here. So, we just had the board meeting. It was from our side, we felt that, we feel that it was a good year for gold loan business. Our standalone AUM has achieved a historic growth of INR 50,000 crore, which is fueled by the robust 50% year-on-year growth in the gold loan portfolio. Our core, core gold loan portfolio has grown by 50%.
But over the nine-month period, the standalone gold loan increased by INR 36,700 crore, setting a new record for gold loan of INR 1,39,658 crore. This performance aligns with the accelerated demand for gold loan, especially evident during the festive season. Consequently, our standalone profit after tax for the nine-month grew 91% to INR 7,048 crore. We see customers increasingly acceptance of customers to the gold loan as a convenient, trusted, and secure credit solution for a diverse customer base. See, the customer base is very diverse, including salaried individuals, self-employed professionals, small business owners, and also the higher price of gold has further empowered our customers to unlock greater value for their existing assets. So this has been the good performance from Muthoot Finance for this year.
Overall, not only the gold loan business, the other business, other AUM, has also definitely grown. The standalone results is what I said about Muthoot Finance and the Muthoot Home Loan portfolio or the home loan business subsidiary. It's a 100% subsidiary. The AUM stands at INR 3,380 crore in the nine months, which it shows a 24% growth year-on-year. The total revenue stood at INR 339 crore, registering a growth of 38%, and the profit after tax stood at INR 19 crore in nine months. The Stage III loan assets stood at 2.32 as of December 2025. Belstar Microfinance, registered microfinance NBFC, as a subsidiary of Muthoot Finance, where Muthoot Finance holds 66.13% stake.
The loan AUM for the nine months stood at INR 7,911 crore. The total revenue stood at INR 1,312 crore for the nine months. The microfinance, it achieved a significant turnaround in Q3, posting a profit after tax of INR 51 crore, particularly offsetting the loss incurred in H1 of INR 160 crore. So the cumulative loss for the year has stands reduced to INR 109 crore. The Stage III loan assets stood at 4.93%, which has a provision coverage of 96.59%. The higher Stage III is also consistent with the industry peers, consequent to RBI allowing microfinance companies to have 40% non-microfinance portfolio. Belstar has opened 39 gold loan branches in the nine months to diversify the loan product portfolio. Muthoot Insurance Brokers, a registered insurance broker, has also done well.
It's achieved a profit after tax of INR 23 crore in the nine months. Asia Asset Finance, the listed subsidiary of, based in Sri Lanka, where Muthoot Finance hold 72.9% stake. Portfolio stood at LKR 4,224 crore, which would be approximately about INR 950 crore-INR 960 crore, and the total revenue stood at LKR 703 crore as against LKR 494 crore in the previous year, increase of 42%. It achieved a profit after tax of LKR 68 crore in the nine months ended financial year 2026, as against profit of LKR 50 crore in the last year. Muthoot Money became a wholly owned subsidiary of Muthoot Finance in October 2018. Muthoot Money is a RBI-registered non-banking finance company, engaged in extending vehicle finance and gold loans.
The loan portfolio for nine months stood at INR 8,003 crore, as against INR 2,982 crore in the previous year, showing an increase of 168%. During the nine months, the loan AUM increased by INR 4,001 crore, showing an increase of 105%. Total revenue of the nine months increased to INR 862 crore, as against INR 268 crore in the previous nine months. And it achieved a profit after tax of INR 203 crore in the nine months, compared to a loss of INR 2 crore in the corresponding previous nine months. So overall, we see good growth, good momentum for gold loan business. The gold loan business per se, as well as the other small businesses, other businesses are also doing well.
But, potentially, today it is a time for the gold loan business. The gold loan business is going very well, and Muthoot Finance, with its almost 5,000 branches in Muthoot Finance, as well as about 1,000 branches in Muthoot Money, is well poised to take advantage of the opportunities in the gold loan sector. And, with the blessings of the business, the regulators, and the customers, we have been able to do well. 1,000 branch. Okay, recently, last week, Reserve Bank of India has sent out a circular, or rather, a draft regulations for comments, where our long-standing request for permitting branch opening without prior permission from the Reserve Bank stands withdrawn.
So hopefully, these draft regulations will be converted into proper regulations. And the impact to Muthoot Finance and also to Muthoot Money, which has about 1,000 branches today, would be that they would be able to open branches wherever we require. And that is certainly a very positive attitude which is being shown by the Reserve Bank of India. Of course, we feel that this will also help in growing the gold loan business all over India. And as well as it, we feel that this is one way or the best way for the government to put purchasing power in the hands of people and monetize the idle gold lying in the hands of people.
So by permitting Muthoot Finance also to open branches, I think it is a very positive step for positive action for Muthoot Finance, and I'm sure we should be able to take advantage of that also. So with that, with the positive sides of the government and regulator looking at forward, we see good prospects going forward also. So with that, I would like to end the initial remarks and throw open the floor for clarifications and questions from the investors. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of Mahrukh Adajania from Nuvama. Please go ahead.
Hello, good evening. Congratulations. So my first question is, that our yields have been continuously rising, right? For the last four quarters. And, so is it that the new customers who are coming in or the new loans that are being sanctioned, are being sanctioned at higher rates? And if you could call out separately the interest on the recovery interest in the quarter, like last time you had said it was around INR 300 crore, so what was it this quarter? That's my first question.
Okay. So I think thank you for the appreciation. Yes, we have been growing in the last four quarters. The loan to value has been fixed by the regulator at 75%. Not that everybody takes the whole 75% of the permitted loans. Today, if you look at today's price, at today's price, the loans outstanding is only 57%. 57% of the total book is what is outstanding. So whatever is the permitted LTV, no, we, we do not do anything more than the 75%.
But average LTV today on the outstanding portfolio at today's price is only 57%.... About the interest, yes, there have been churn in the NPA portfolio, where the NPA of old NPA, the legacy NPA of about INR 950 crore, has been closed by the customers, and the new NPA, which has fallen, is about INR 342 crore, so the net NPA reduction is about INR 556 crore. The interest which we earned on the legacy NPA, minus the interest on the re-recognized NPA, it comes to about INR 500 crore, which is the old NPA we have received. And then also, we had some auctions during the quarter, and we realized about INR 120 crore through auction source. ARC also contributed to about INR 24 crore of interest.
That is why there is a bump in the interest.
Okay, so around INR 624 crore, like INR 500 from recovery, and then INR 24 from ARC and INR 100 more, like that, right?
Yeah.
Yeah. INR 120 from-
Yeah, probably, you know, interest rates here and there we have done, you know.
Mm-hmm.
So that also-
There are some interest rates tweaking also sometimes happens. Yeah.
Okay. Okay, got it. Okay, and so your new customers or your existing customers who've taken fresh loans with new collateral has grown, but your new customers haven't grown, right? This quarter, as in last quarter, it was around 0.42 million, and now it's around 0.4. So it will stabilize at this level, is it? Or new branch openings will help improve the new customers coming in. How do we see it in the next few quarters?
I think-
No, we have, you know, INR 4 lakh, 400,000 customers, new customers coming, you know, it is not that-
So probably it is not that it is stabilized there, it is seasonal also. Sometimes, more people come. If, as you said, more branches means some more new customers, but there is a steady flow of new customers.
Okay, and sir, how much was the auction during the quarter?
So like I said, auction interest is about INR 120 crore.
Okay. Okay, sir, thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Shreepal Doshi from Equirus Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir, congrats on the good set of numbers. My question was on, interest income front. So incrementally, do we expect some more, such one-offs coming in from the net recoveries from NPA? Because it's been going on for the last, at least, let's say, three quarters now. So incrementally, like, how do you see this trend emerging?
So, now when we know when there is a,
Sure.
Increase in the NPA, certainly there is an interest de-recognition happens, and, you know, those loans remain for some time in our books, you know, interest accrues, and when it is collected, you know, all of, you know, the entire amount is getting recognized. So that is a regular process, you know, because there is a significant decrease in the old NPA accounts, there is a jump, you know. This is not-
Mm-hmm
You know, a regular affair, but whenever it happens, there will be an additional income recognition which happens.
Right. Right. Okay. So, I mean, such clarity will not emerge for how things can evolve in future?
Yeah. So I know, as I said, and you know, you know, when around INR 900 crore of NPA got recovered, you know, another INR 300 crore, fresh NPAs got booked in, you know, in that bucket.
Mm.
Yeah. So, you know, that loan account, if it remains for some time, later on, you know, when it is recovered, it gets recognized as interest income. So that's why this happens. It is a regular phenomenon, but, you know, it all depends on how long this, you know, these accounts remain in the NPA bucket. Especially when there is a decrease in the net NPA figure, you know, this is going to happen.
Got it. Sir, second question was on the pricing front. So incrementally, last, let's say last one quarter, while we have seen such cycles in the past as well, where the competition has increased, when the gold prices have been volatile, but have we tweaked our pricing strategy in the last, let's say, two, three months time period?
There is nothing like a pricing strategy. We try to maintain our net interest margins. So if the cost of funding is low, our yield also would be lower, but we try to maintain our net interest margins and spread.
Got it. But, so we would have passed on at least the cost of fund benefit, because even during the quarter, the cost of fund has actually gone up. So what explains that?
If the borrowing cost goes up, it is the function of the banks or the lenders. We're increasing their rates. So we just pass on some of that to the customers.
No, sir, I mean, the rate environment is declining, so why has our cost of fund?
Shreepal, you know, in case of banks, you know, we are not seeing much of a decrease in their NPA.
Mm-hmm.
And especially, you know, whereas in the past, we have seen a decrease, and especially, you know, this last couple of months, you know, there has been interest rates have been volatile, you know, it has been going up and down. So, you know, that creates a positive environment in terms of interest rates, and especially it is because, you know, the banks have not significantly reduced their MCLR.
Sir, we've not seen any great benefit coming in, in our cost of fund as such from the bank, borrowing that we have.
No, no, we have-
It will take some time, one quarter, two quarters. Probably after some time, the MCLR will come down. Today, they have not really reduced the MCLR.
It is not like, no, 50 basis. No, I don't think we have seen a 50 basis points reduction in the MCLRs of banks, most of the banks.
Okay. Okay. This is the last question was on the branch expansion. Since the RBI has changed that policy, how do you... So now from our end, how do we see the strategy changing? Because we were adding, we were doing business from our subsidiaries as well on the gold finance side. Now, incrementally, would we sort of, you know, focus on standalone entity itself, or would we continue with, with the strategy of, you know, doing gold from all of our NBFC subsidiaries as well?
No, no. It is only Muthoot Money which is doing the gold loan business, so probably they will also be doing. Muthoot Finance usually ask for permission. So today, the benefit we see from this is that we don't need to go and ask permission. We can open the branch and probably inform them that the branch is open. That's a big convenience factor. Not that just because it is open, we are going to open 10,000 branches. No, nothing like that. We have to open branches, calibrate it, growth, that we will continue. The advantage is the two things: One, we don't need to go after Reserve Bank to, for a permission. The most important thing is the comfort or the message which we see from the regulator is that they are supportive of the gold loan business. That is the message.
That's a positive we see in this.
Got it, sir. Got it. Thank you so much, sir, for answering my questions, and good luck for the next one.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Piran Engineer from CLSA. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, team. Many congratulations on the quarter. Just before my questions, want to go back to the previous participant's question on branch opening. So we take it that branch openings will be business as usual, it will not be accelerated next year?
Yeah, it it can be accelerated if we need to, but it will again depend on the business environment and whether we need to open branches. Not that, as I said, not going to open 1,000-2,000 branches tomorrow. It is, it's not that easy to open also.
Okay, understood. That is clear. So secondly, just wanted to understand the OpEx growth trajectory, because while I understand AUM growth has picked up, our OpEx growth, you know, if I... Two years back, it was 13%-14%. Last year it was 20%, now we are running at 25% growth. Now, given that most of our costs are fixed costs, why is our OpEx growing so fast?
Sir, OpEx, I don't know. I don't, I don't know the exact number of growth, et cetera. Salaries are going up, rents are going up, all costs are going up, inflation is there, so we are not in, we are not insulated from all these things. So-
Yes, sir, but all these things are at 10%-12%, right? Not 25%.
I don't know this number very well. I'll have to check that number, sir. To me, our OpEx...
So how should we think about it? If your gold loan growth next year is 15%, which is your steady state guidance, how much, how should we think about OpEx growth in such an environment?
OpEx growth. I didn't get this number properly. Yeah.
No, then we can always discuss this, you know. But, you know, if you look at, you know, employee expenses, you know, there is a regular increase which happens, and especially when there is a larger business growth, you know, certainly the variable part keeps on growing. So probably that is one aspect. Rent also, generally there is an increase, you know, every year. And, you know, one item where we spent more is on the advertisements. You know, as being a large volume business, you know, our advertising budget has been keep on increasing. And of course, we take some outside help in terms of, you know, consultants, et cetera.
So that also, you know, plays an, you know, another reason why there is a increase in, OpEx. So primarily it is because of the employee benefits, and, you know, the advertisements.
Understood.
And of course, the business promotion expenses.
Okay, okay. Oommen, sir, just a couple of more number questions for you. So now, cost of funds, we should not expect further reduction. It has stabilized here?
No, no, no, no. That is not the impression I wanted to give, you know.
Okay.
It all depends on how the rate environment moves in the country. You know, on one side, the RBI has been keep on reducing the benchmark rates, whereas the banks have not been able to pass on that, you know-
Banks are not passing on freely the MCLR. So they are giving lesser loans to maybe home loans and other individuals. But when it comes to borrowers like us, they are not really passing on that benefit. That's some in substance of it. Probably-
It's already there in the public, you know, how far, you know, banks have reduced their MCLRs, you know, in spite of the reduction. So that is one reason why, you know, we are not seeing it, because almost 50% plus of the funding comes from the bank. So, naturally, you know, the-
No, so I think, maybe I didn't explain my question well, but, MCLR also happens with a lag, right? Like six months, one year. So if a bank cuts their MCLR, let's say in October last year. It might come up, if it was six months due, it will come up in April this year, like that. So my question was that will be mismatch in terms of timing.
Yeah, that is true.
Should we still see some further downside in cost of fund?
So that is true, but you look at how far that reduction has happened in terms of all the banks. Has any bank reduced by 50 basis points? I don't think so.
Understood. Okay, okay. And sir, lastly, just, INR 500 crore of interest recovery on INR 900 crore of NPA recovery. So that is more than 50%, which means these NPAs were on the books as NPAs for more than two years. Is my understanding correct?
We give a lot of time to the customers, sir. When the customers request, we give them time. That is one of the reasons we get more business also. We don't just aggressively auction the gold.
See, March 2025, our NPA was INR 3,700 crore, you know. Right now it is INR 2,300 crore. So, you know, that much of NPA was there, you know, at the beginning of the year. So, you know, definitely nine months has accrued, this year, and probably, you know, the earlier accruals also now we have received.
Understood. Understood. Yeah, okay, so that, that was... Wish you all the best.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Prithviraj Patil from Investec. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, thanks for the opportunity. So the first question was on the yields. I just wanted to know why the yields have increased, what was the recovery number this quarter? And the second question was on the competition. So we have seen some tonnage decrease QoQ, and the active customers have also reduced. So I just wanted to know how the competition is panning out. Thanks.
Okay. Competition is there from everybody. Banks are a big competition. Banks have a very big portfolio. Banks have about INR 1,300,000 crore of portfolio. NBFC has about INR 300,000 crore of portfolio. So everybody's portfolio is increasing, competition is increasing, we are also growing. We grew by 50%. I think that is decent enough.
Yeah, Prithviraj.
Yeah.
Yeah. Sorry, and the second question was on the recovery, recovery amount.
That's why we just explained it, but, you know, there has been a recovery of the old NPA accounts, which has translated to an additional interest of around INR 667 crore. And, you know, there's a fresh NPA of around INR 110 crore. Then there is an auction income of around INR 100 crore. Then there is a recovery from the ARC sale of around INR 25 crore. So all these have added on top of the regular interest collections and a little bit of a, you know, interest increase also on the regular loans also has happened. So that is the reason why, you know, there is a jump in the yield. Otherwise, I think you should, you know, see around 18.5%-19% as the regular yield.
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vasudha Khurana from Aviva Life Insurance. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for the opportunity. My question is that, gold has seen a bull run in the past few months, and now it is sort of stabilizing. How do you see that impacting the AUM growth going forward? Is there any guidance on that?
You know, our AUM growth is not based on the price of gold. Our AUM, AUM growth is based on the demand for gold. So as I was saying in the beginning itself, our AUM or the loan to value today, at today's price, is only 57%. That means although we can lend up to 75%, people have not borrowed 75%. So it's only 57% is the today's total value. So that also shows that just because the price is increasing, people don't take money. But it also is a factor, because when price increases, people generally feel that their collateral, the gold with them, is quite valuable, and probably some of them may think of monetizing it by taking a gold loan, et cetera. So price increase is there. But of course, price is volatile.
It has gone up very high, very, in the last one year, and sometimes it's, we feel that it is stabilizing, then probably it may not stabilize. So we will wait and see. But having said that, it is not just the price rise, it is the, it is the demand. It is, We feel that the demand is coming because unsecured loans, et cetera, are not easy to get, and even the microfinance sector has degrown. People need money, and they are increasingly starting to use gold collateral to get money. I think that is the reason for this.
So what I actually meant was that the tonnage that you know Muthoot Finance holds and you know that being part of the assets. So you know how would that get impacted with the meeting?
Okay, I think I'll answer this question by saying that the gold loan remains only for about three to four months. So three months back, somebody has to pledge four bangles to get INR 1 lakh. Today, he has to bring only three bangles. So I cannot ask him to bring all the four bangles, which he gave three months back. So we have to do it with the three months, three bangles only. So definitely, for the same or the similar loan amount, he needs to provide only new loans, they need to provide only lesser quantity. So when the old four bangles get released and the same loan gets priced at three bangles. The weight actually has to come down. So it is a factor of the function of the gold price also.
The gold price goes up very high, the tonnage has to come down.
Every day, now we are doing fresh loans of around 50,000-60,000 numbers. And a similar number also comes back as repayments, you know, redemption. So there is a regular churn which happens, so-
The cycle is short, so-
Yeah, so we cannot expect, you know, the new customers to bring the same four bangles.
Right, right, right. Of course. Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, if you wish to ask questions, you may press star and one at this time. Our next question comes from the line of Sanjay from ACME Pvt Ltd . Please go ahead.
Sir, compliments to you for delivering excellent results. Sir, I have a few questions. Maybe are we giving, are we revisiting guidance, as you indicated in one of the media interviews sometime back, I think last month. Sir, you indicated that probably you will revisit the guidance when you hold a Q3 con call or something. So that is one question. Secondly, sir, we are emerging as one of the top 50 most profitable companies in India with a INR 10,000 crore profit, annually, we will be in the top 50. So we request you, we request you to hold quarterly board meetings earlier, like Reliance, TCS. They hold normally in the first month itself, rather than holding in the second of the, you know, season when it ends. So I request you, sir.
Third question is, we request you to, we request you to appoint a Big Four auditor, because that will help in, you know, creating more invest, wealth for the investors. You know, because a lot of foreigners, they want a, big four investor, big four auditor as a, auditor. Not that we do not like the current auditors, they are also very good. Last question is, what are we doing to reward investors, sir? Bonus issue, increasing payouts, stock split. You know, because, you know, our 3% is held by only retail investors, 73% by the promoters and, 23% by, institutions. So only 3% is held by investors, retail investors.
It's another way to reward investors by splitting the stock or by increasing the value of number of shares, you know, by increasing the number of quantity of shares, by splitting the stock split. So we request the stock split also. You know, these are the questions.
Board meetings, I think we'll have to request the board members to come early.
Uh, okay.
I think some of them are... You're finished? Can I reply?
Yeah, yeah, please, please go ahead.
So board meetings, we will request them next time just to do it earlier also. Okay.
Okay. That will be good.
On the lighter side only. Splitting shares and bonus shares, et cetera, is something again, which we will, we will, since you said, we will take it up with the, in the next meeting and ask the board their opinion on that. On your next question is about the guidance.
Mm.
You said we have already grown by 36%, so you said we have to give a guidance. I thought I will give it to, I will give the guidance tomorrow at the, TV interaction.
Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. But, sir, you can give it to investors also here. That will be good.
So, no, first of all, let me say, tell you, you know, we have not given a guidance of INR 10,000 crore. That is the number which you have quoted.
No, no, no, INR 10,000 crore profit will occur. No, I'm not saying you give the guidance. You know, sir, we, our MD came on the CNBC to give a... No, and they were asked a question that, you know, so our MD said that we'll probably revisit the loan growth guidance, you know, loan growth guidance, when we hold the next board meeting for the quarterly results. That is my question. My question is not on the profit guidance. I'm not saying profit guidance. Profit, that we analyze will, you know, on the basis of the quarterly results, we will do our analysis, right? So I am just asking a pure question. Home, I mean, loan, gold loan guidance, yeah.
Yeah. No, we were just clarifying, we are not in the, no, we don't give a guidance on the profit, just to clarify for everybody's interest.
No, no, sir, we are not asking a question on the profit guidance, sir. You're misunderstanding, yeah.
Not for you. Not for you. I'm saying for everybody, all the listeners.
Okay, okay, sir. Okay, okay. Sure.
Okay, I think, we have grown, we have grown by 36. We should grow a little more. I will, I will be able to do some number tomorrow, sir.
Okay, okay. No problem. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Shanskar from Eraya Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yes, I'll just follow up on the question of a previous participant. So given the gold price volatility that we are seeing recently, so, how should we think about both AUM as well as earnings and margin growth in scenarios like, let's say, gold prices decline significantly given the high volatility? Just overall outlook, I wanted to understand.
I think it's a hypothetical question, whether what will happen, but to our—from our experience, again, I'm repeating, gold price is not the factor for gold loan growth. Gold loan growth depends on the requirement of the customer. Gold, gold is there with everybody, and people come with the gold if they need money. So if the people feel that their gold loan is easier, better than other types of loans, we will get loans. So today, the environment is good for a collateralized loan because unsecured loans, et cetera, are difficult. Unsecured personal loans, unsecured business loans, and, maybe even unsecured microfinance loans are difficult. That is why we see a big, good demand for gold loan growth.
Probably, there will be some people who may think that the price is falling and the gold loan business may not grow, but I don't agree to that. I don't agree to that.
Understood. Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jacob T from Jacob and Associates. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, everyone. Congratulations to Mr. George Muthoot and the entire management team for coming out with fantastic results. I just wanted to ask a question, especially regarding the growth this year, but since Mr. George has already told that you want to give it out in a TV interview tomorrow, so I will ... Okay, sir, but at least, subsequent to the December month, that is in the January month, are we seeing similar kind of growth?
Yeah, I think, we are not supposed to answer that directly, but anyway, business is as good as earlier.
Okay. All right. I have another question. We recently have seen very volatile prices for gold bullion. So what kind of safeguards do we have in our system? Because if there is a fall of 15%-20%, do we have some safeguards?
Yeah, I think I answered this question little earlier also. Today, our average loan-to-value is only 57% or lesser than 57%. So we have such a big margin that, that is one side of the price. But again, most importantly, we do finance only gold ornaments, on which there is a making charge, which is again 15%-20%. So the replacement cost for a customer is not 100, it is 115 or 120. So we have sufficient margin. Finally, because it's an ornament, it has a sentimental value also. So just because the price falls, people just don't abandon the gold. So we have seen this happen in the last several years. There have been fluctuations in the price. Just because price has fallen or price has fluctuated, nobody abandons the gold.
So in the last 10 years, 15 years after listing also, we have never had such instances. So I think we are definitely insulated from that.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much for your answers. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is a follow-up from Shreepal Doshi from Equirus. Go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for giving me the opportunity once again. My first question was on what is the accrued interest sitting right now?
It will be around, you know, INR 800 crore plus.
Got it. Got it. And sir, with respect to the incremental disbursements, what is the LTV that we are sort of seeing in the last, let's say, couple of months or let's say last quarter? What is the incremental LTV that we are able to do for the fresh disbursements?
We are allowed to give 75%, and, you know, sometimes because of the gold price, we may not entirely give the entire 75%. So whatever is the limit which we have fixed, you know, some customers take the full amount, some customers take the lower amount, depending upon the scheme he chooses.
So, okay, but, like, at an average level, what would it be like? Because since you will be looking at it from the macro point of view, so from that point of view, have you seen?
Disbursement. So generally, you know, on a stable gold price scenario, I'm not talking about last one or two quarters, you know, you know.
Mm-hmm.
The normal disbursement LTV, you know, in the past we have seen is that though we give 75%, average tends to be around 71%-72%. You know, that's the average.
Last quarter, it would have been, like?
So the last quarter, I'll not be able to comment because, you know, we have restricted, you know, though we were eligible to give 75%, we have restricted because of the volatility in the gold price.
So it would have been lower than at least the broader average that you gave of 70%. Okay. Okay.
That is also the reason-
Sorry.
Yeah, that is also one of the reasons why the tonnage tends to come down, you know, because when you give at a higher price, you know, the gold people tend, which will be lower.
Right. Right, right. And so the last question was on the growth front. So while, sir highlighted that, you know, the growth has come in from the credit demand, which has increased at the customer level and not purely linked to the gold price rally. I also just wanted to understand that, you know, that this reason could have also been a function of MFI segment seeing dry out of a business momentum or let's say, a disbursements were shrinking there as well. However, with that segment bouncing back, do you see that that can impact, you know, our sort of lenders who are into gold finance incremental, since that that vertical is now available at the customers' level?
So what I said is, microfinance is one factor. The overall unsecured lending is also very difficult today. Not that people are not getting it. Very difficult, especially to non-salaried people, unsecured loans, and also the business loans are also very difficult. That is why you would have seen yesterday's newspaper, which says that RBI has said, "For business loans, you can even take gold as a collateral." That goes to show that people are not getting unsecured business loans also easily. So third factor is microfinance, you said, bounced back. I haven't seen any big bounce till now. Some small growth only I've seen. Nothing big bounce has come. That is my feeling.
Mm-hmm. So if it comes, that can have some rub-off effect on our growth?
If you look at, if you look at our growth, you know, in the last one decade, you know, that's a period when microfinance sector has also grown. In spite of that, you know, we have grown. So probably you can exploit, you know-
Extrapolate.
Extrapolate from that.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Fair, fair. And this is the last question, was on the, you know, customers, taking Agri PSL loans from PSU bank. So have you seen any increase, let's say, from, in that, from, from customers moving away from us and taking the Agri PSL loans from PSU bank? Have you seen such, leakages happening from, our end?
It's not, sir, it's not some leakage, because we are also growing. You saw we grow by 36% in the last nine months, so our business is also growing. In the last one year, we grew by 50%, so business is growing. And people don't tell us that they are going to take a gold from us and take an agricultural gold loan from a PSU bank. They don't confide that to us. Anyway, all these things happen, such a big market. Today, the banks, with all the agricultural and non-agricultural loans, hold about INR 1,300,000 crore of portfolio. It's a huge amount. A micro NBFCs, gold loan NBFCs hold only about INR 300,000 crore. So they are still big there, and because people continue to take gold loans, they will continue to take Agri loans from the, especially from the PSU banks.
It's always there.
Right. I see-
In spite of that, everybody is growing. They are growing, we are growing.
Right. So that question was coming, like I was coming from, let's say, the pricing point of view as well, because there the pricing is much lower at 8%-9%, sorry, 8%-10% of the range. So yeah.
So it is nothing new. This has been there for the last 10, 15 years. People, banks have been doing, agricultural loans, PSU, PSL loans, et cetera. It's always there. People who come to us, come to us for some other reasons also. So they are our customers, they come to us for convenience, et cetera. They still continue to come.
Got it, sir. Got it. Well, sir, thank you so much for taking up my questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vedant Sarda from Nirmal Bang Securities Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Am I audible?
Yes.
Congratulations on a great set of numbers, sir. What I want to understand is, RBI has allowed lending on silver, I think so from April 1, 2026.
Mm.
So how do we look at it and how it can drive our growth?
So you mean to say whether we are planning to give loan against silver?
Yes.
We have not considered it as yet, sir. We have not considered it as yet.
Okay, sir. Okay.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask questions may press star and one at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing comments.
Thank you. Good evening from my side. It was quite an interesting interactions with the investors, I think. We are thankful to the investors for participating in the con call and also guiding us, helping us, and also probably getting their doubts, et cetera, clarified. Thank you for your support. I think I thank all the others who have participated also. And from our side, from Muthoot Finance, from the management, we will see, we will always ensure that the interest of the investors, that the investors, our all stakeholders, with the borrowers, lenders, et cetera, are protected. And we will do a good job of growing the company, of growing the company both in quality and quantity. Thank you, and good day to, good day to all of you.
Thank you. On behalf of DAM Capital Advisors Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.