The largest gold finance company, Muthoot Finance in terms of loan portfolio posted a dip in its net profit by 6 per cent at Rs 220 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2012-13 against Rs 235 crore last year on higher tax.

"Growth was impacted not only due to regulatory uncertainties but also because we had decided to grow at a slower pace. But the main reason for the dip in net income was the higher tax outgo in the reporting quarter which rose to Rs 517 crore from Rs 442 crore," Mr. Oommen Mammen, Chief Financial Officer, Muthoot Finance said explaining the reason for drop in quarterly net profit.

However, for the full year, net profit of the company rose 13 per cent to Rs 1,004 crore compared to Rs 892 crore in the previous fiscal.

Total loan increased Rs 674 crore to Rs 26,386 crore, while total income was up 18 per cent to Rs 5,387 crore.

Chairman of the company, Mr. MG George Muthoot said, "for the first time the company crossed Rs 1,000-crore mark in net profit despite a tumultuous year marked by regulatory changes and sentiment driven market speculations affecting the interest of key stakeholders."