Going bullish on SKS Microfinance, the country's only listed player in the sector, foreign investors have hiked stake in it to all-time high of 38.36 per cent during the October-December quarter amid a sharp rally in the company's share price.
Foreign Institutional Investors held 36.90 per cent stake in SKS during the July-September quarter, and raised it to 38.36 at the end of December 31, as per the latest information available with the stock exchanges.
This was the second quarterly increase in FII holding in SKS. FIIs have been raising their exposure in the Hyderabad- based firm in the past few quarters, after it hit a record low of 8.33 per cent during the April-June quarter of 2012.
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There was 47 per cent surge in SKS share price between October and December, while the BSE benchmark index Sensex grew by just 1.82 per cent during the period.
The stock had taken a major beating since its listing in August 2010 at a price of over Rs 1,000 per share. There had been a major policy clamp down on micro finance institutions following a spate of suicides by small borrowers amid allegations of strong-arm recovery tactics adopted by them.
SKS stock is currently trading at Rs 175 level per share at the stock exchanges. The company's scrip touched its 52-week high of Rs 209.85 on December 24 last year.
The company had debuted on the bourses after sale of shares in Initial Public Offer at a price of Rs 985 apiece.
Analysts believes that various steps taken by SKS including appointment of marketing strategist Jack Trout for its re-branding and repositioning work has helped FIIs to rush towards it.
Besides, the micro finance firm has successfully been able to transfer its debt to securitisation and that has helped the cash flows for the company.
SKS plans to raise up to Rs 400 crore through issuance of shares to institutional investors route in the next fiscal by diluting a maximum of 20 per cent stake.
For the quarter ended December, SKS reported nearly 19-fold jump in net profit to Rs 21.4 crore after business outside Andhra Pradesh increased.
Total income of the company rose to Rs 133.32 crore during the quarter from Rs 85.06 crore in the year-ago period. The company had guided a net profit of Rs 125 crore for the fiscal ending March 2015.
The number of FIIs in SKS stood at 53 in October-December quarter, as against 48 at the end of the preceding three months.
However, domestic institutional investors' stake in SKS declined to 5.02 per cent for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, from 5.13 per cent in the preceding three months.
