Temasek-backed NBFC Fullerton India has given pink slips to 3,000 employees, which is around 20% of its workforce in India. The Mumbai-based credit company is also learnt to have shut down 50 branches across the country owing to the liquidity crunch.
A company spokesman said, "This is a consolidation exercise, under which branches have been merged and under-performers have been asked to leave."
Another company official said those people laid-off were probationers and in the first year of their jobs. "Most of these employees were given six to nine months to develop their skills and were also provided with adequate training. Those who could not come up the learning curve have been asked to leave".
A wholly-owned subsidiary of investment major Temasek Holdings, Fullerton specialises in lending to the mass market which consists of small & micro entrepreneurs, small shops and trading establishments, self employed segment (annual turnover of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore) and the lower level of salaried individuals (annual salary of Rs 36000 to Rs 3 lakh).
The credit company had 800 branches across the country and employed around 14,000 people. Singapore-based Temasek Holdings has invested $ 300 million in Fullerton India in the last couple of years, the last infusion was made in October last year.
Fullerton India has disbursed close to Rs 5,000 crore since it started operations in 2006 and has an asset book of Rs. 2,500 crore at present. While 70% of its lending portfolio constitutes loans to the self-employed segment, the remainder consists of loans to salaried individuals and two-wheeler loans. Most of these loans are unsecured. The company has an exclusive tie-up with Hero Honda and Honda Motorcycles for two-wheeler financing.
NBFC’s such as CitiFinancial and GE Money have also scaled down operations significantly in the past six months. While CitiFinancial has brought down its branch network from 450 branches to 170 branches, GE Money has reduced its network from 180 branches to less than 80 branches.
Fullerton Holdings is also planning the launch of its subsidiary Fullerton Securities, which will provide retail broking and wealth management services to clients in the mass affluent segment. The team is spearheaded by Rajiv Kakar, formerly head of Citibank’s consumer banking business in Turkey, Middle East and Africa and thereafter member of the board of Visa International for Central Europe, Middle East and Africa and Pallav Sinha, formerly Head of Wealth Management at Standard Chartered Bank, India.
No comments:
Post a Comment