The five publicly-listed, differentiated banking entities that have shared their business updates so far have shown over 20% growth in respective gross loan portfolios, significantly higher than the banking sector’s average credit expansion.
AU Small Finance Bank, the largest in the group, reported a 21.3% year-on-year rise in assets under management (AUM) to ₹1.40 lakh crore. Equitas‘ AUM grew by 21.6% to ₹46,183 crore, while Ujjivan logged a 26.6% growth to ₹40,655 crore.
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Industry average till March 15 published by the Reserve Bank of India showed that bank credit grew by 13.8% year-on-year, 300 basis points more than the average deposit expansion.
Equitas and Ujjivan also reported growth in microfinance lending, even as they focussed on growing their secured business to reduce the concentration risk. Equitas showed a 27.2% annual rise in microfinance portfolio to ₹5,757 crore, while Ujjivan recorded a 12.3% rise to ₹14,696 crore.
These lenders also reported a little improvement in asset quality along with the business updates. AU Bank did not mention anything about it.Suryoday Small Finance said its gross loan portfolio rose by 29% year-on-year to ₹13,201 crore. Capital’s loan growth print stood at 20.9% to ₹8,687 crore.
AU Bank and Suryoday Small Finance did not share their portfolio break-up.
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Capital Small Finance Bank is not into unsecured lending.
Granular data collated by credit bureau Equifax India showed that till February, SFBs’ cumulative microfinance portfolio contracted to ₹49,889 crore from ₹54,234 crore at the end of December.
In contrast, all other lending segments-private banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFC)- microfinance institutions (MFIs), and NBFCs–have grown their collective microfinance portfolio month-on-month after a prolonged phase of contraction, reflecting a sign of growth revival in the bottom of the pyramid borrower segment.
The sector’s overall portfolio size stood at ₹3.29 lakh crore at the end of February, having grown by 2.5% over the previous month, data from Equifax India showed.
Lenders’ collection efficiency has improved too, people aware of the development said.