Manappuram Finance & Leasing - Rs.26.00

Established in 1992, Manappuram General Finance & Leasing Ltd (MGFLL) is the flagship company of the 55 yr old Manappuram group of South India. It was the first NBFC from Kerala permitted to accept NRI deposits both on repatriable and non- repatriable basis. It is managed by a broad-based board comprising eminent professionals from banking, business, legal, computer, finance and capital markets etc. The company is accredited with ISO 9001-2000 certification from M/s NQA London, which conducts periodic surveillance audits to ensure the continued validity of their certification. Also MGFLL has paid dividends to shareholders every year since the first full year of its operations.

Headquartered in Thrissur district of Kerala, MGFLL has a network of 32 branches interspersed in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. To widen its activities in metro cities, the company opened 14 new branches in FY05. It is currently strengthening the fee-based segment having diversified into marketing Life and General Insurance products along with full-fledged Forex operations, Instant Money Transfer and online share trading facility. It has entered into various tie-up arrangements with Birla Life Insurance, Cholamandalam General Insurance, Western Money Union Transfer, Apollo Sindhoori, ICICI Direct etc. It is also acting as a corporate agent for Car & Housing loans of ICICI and HDFC Bank. With a strong nationwide coverage through its several branches, MGFLL is well equipped to synergise its existing Hire Purchase and gold loan business with these fee-based activities. To look after the fee-based activities exclusively, it has promoted a subsidiary company by the name Manappuram Insurance Agents and Brokers (P) Ltd.

Financially, MGFLL continuously strives to identify and mobilise cheaper sources of funds while lowering the related operating and financial expenses. Apart from enjoying overdraft facility from various banks, the company has been sanctioned fresh limits of overdraft facility from M/s Indusind Bank to the tune of Rs.2 cr. It also managed to arrange for cheaper funds by way of securitisation with ICICI Bank and Sundaram Finance. The capital adequacy ratio of the company was 17.54% as on 31-03-2005 against the statutory requirement of 15%. Few months back, it made a preferential allotment of 10 lakh shares @ Rs.25 per share to promoters which prove that the management is confident of its future prospects. For FY06, it may post total revenue of Rs.19 cr. and NP of Rs.3.25 cr. which will lead to an EPS of Rs.6 on its current equity of Rs.5.50 cr. With mid caps coming back into action, this scrip may see a smart rally in the near future and may even cross its 52 week high of Rs.43 in 15~18 months.