Shares of SKS Microfinance slumped to a 52-week low level in the morning trade today after the country’s only listed microfinance institution reported a loss of Rs 384 crore for the September quarter on lower income and higher provisioning.
The scrip opened lower and later tanked by 10 per cent to hit its lower circuit limit of Rs 188.15 on the BSE. A similar trend was witnessed on the National Stock Exchange, where the stock plunged by 10 per cent to its 52-week low of Rs 188.30.
Analysts attributed the sharp fall in the counter to poor Q2 numbers announced yesterday.
The company reported a net loss of Rs 384 crore for the September quarter this fiscal against a profit of Rs 80.55 crore in the July-September quarter of the previous fiscal.
The stock, however, regained some lost ground and was later trading at Rs 197.70, down 5.41 per cent on the BSE. On the NSE, it was trading at Rs 198.25, down by 5.23 per cent.
Microfinance — the practice of giving small loans to poor people — have come under intense scrutiny after a string of farmers’ suicides in Andhra Pradesh, leading to the creation of an Act to regulate their activities, which in turn has hampered the microfinance activity.