



Muthoot Finance stock tanks 12% despite stellar gold loan AUM growth. What's stealing its thunder?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Gold loan company Muthoot Finance Ltd posted impressive earnings in the December quarter (Q3FY26), with gold loan assets under management (AUM) rising 50% year-on-year to around ₹1.4 trillion, beating expectations. This was backed by strong demand for gold loans amid elevated gold prices.
Also, unsecured and microfinance lending tightening has led borrowers to shift to gold-backed loans to meet their funding needs. Demand for gold loans accelerated during the festive season and has remained strong through January and February, management said in the earnings call. Among other positives, asset quality improved due to auctions and legacy defaulters repaying their gold loans.
Gross Stage 3 assets (loans overdue for more than 90 days) fell to 1.58% from 2.25% in the previous quarter. Net interest margins and spreads were broadly stable during the quarter. Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services have raised FY26, FY27 and FY28 earnings-per-share estimates by around 12%, 9% and 7%, respectively to factor in higher loan growth and stable recoveries from the non-performing assets (NPA) pool.
“As the market leader among NBFCs (non-banking financial companies), Muthoot is well placed to capture a disproportionate share of this incremental demand and should continue to outpace peers," said a Motilal report dated 12 February. Management said while competition exists, the gold loan market remains under-penetrated, with banks holding ₹13 trillion of gold loans and NBFCs only around ₹3 trillion. Tonnage fell 2% sequentially in Q3FY26.
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