Manappuram Finance is down 5% at Rs. 21, very close to the day’s low price of Rs. 20.95, being the top loser on BSE. Volumes on the counter are very strong, especially post 1 pm this Wednesday afternoon. So far, over 27 lakh shares have been traded on NSE, as against the 2 week average daily traded volumes of 12 lakh shares. On BSE, around 7.5 lakh shares have changed hands, as against 2 week average quantity of 1.6 lakh shares.

What is surprising is share of this gold loan provider is bucking the market trend. On a day when broader markets are strongly in the green, the counter is sulking in red. Even yesterday, the counter witnessed surging volumes of over 2 times on BSE, being flat, when indices remained in the green. Given today’s surge in volumes of 4.5 times, clearly something is brewing here.

For Q1FY16, company reported consolidated total income of Rs. 539 crore and net profit of Rs. 59 crore, resulting in EPS of Rs. 0.70, as against EPS of Rs. 3.23 for FY15. It also declared interim dividend of 45 paise per share for FY16. The stock went ex-dividend on Friday 4^th September. It carried a dividend yield of around 2%, which on an annualised basis, is higher at close to 8.6%, based on Rs. 1.8 per share dividend paid for FY15.