Summary
Finkurve Financial Services Limited - Q3 FY26 Earnings Call Summary Monday, February 09, 2026 12:00 P.M.
Event Participants
Executives 3 Aakash Jain (CFO), Naveen Kottala (CEO), Priyank Kothari (Executive Director)
Analysts 7 Akash Sharma (Individual Investor), Mandira Agarwal (Investo Investment), Preesha Shah (Family Office), Rahul Kumawat (Wint Wealth), Rao Thakur (NVS Brokerage), Rohan Mehta (Individual Investor), Urmish Shah (Moneywisers)
Financials & KPIs
| Metric | Reported | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| AUM | ₹833 crores | +118% YoY; driven by customer expansion, higher branch network, and elevated gold prices. |
| Interest Income | - | +31% YoY; strong growth offset by moderation in fee/commission income. |
| PAT | - | +24% YoY and +18% QoQ; reflects scale benefits despite expansion costs. |
| GNPA | < 2.0% | Maintained below 2% vs. industry average of ~3%; focus remains on conservative underwriting. |
| NIM | 15.0% | Contrasted from earlier levels; compression due to increased leverage on capital and rising finance costs. |
| ROA | 3.5% - 4.0% | Reflects healthy profitability at current scale; management targeting further optimization. |
| ROE | 8.0% - 9.0% | Currently low due to under-leverage (1.67x); expected to rise as leverage reaches 3x-4x. |
| CRAR | ~40.0% | Decreased from >50% YoY as capital is deployed; remains well above regulatory requirements. |
| Branch Count | 100 branches | Increased from 72 to 100 branches YoY; 26 branches added in the current fiscal year to date. |
| Avg. Yield (Gold) | 19.5% | Maintained by avoiding aggressive pricing/discounting; focused on high-quality secured lending. |
Geographic & Segment Commentary
- Gold Loans: This segment accounts for over 90% of the loan book and is the primary strategic focus for the next five years. Management reported that 50% of recent growth stemmed from new customer acquisition and 50% from gold price appreciation. The company intends to remain a “pure play” gold NBFC, leveraging its group expertise in the gold ecosystem.
- Personal Loans (PL): The segment is undergoing a strategic transition from high-churn, 30-day products to 3-6 month EMI-based loans. This shift has caused a temporary moderation in fee income but aims to improve portfolio stability and spread out yields.
Company-Specific & Strategic Commentary
- Technology Integration: Management is utilizing an in-house built, AI-enabled tech stack to automate repetitive manual operations and improve turnaround times. The platform focus is on risk control, customer experience, and operational efficiency to support scalability without incremental tech costs per branch.
- Leverage Strategy: The company is currently under-leveraged at 1.67x following a ₹111 crore equity infusion in May. Management aims to reach an industry-standard leverage of 3x-4x to drive ROE expansion and AUM growth.
- Synergistic Advantage: Integration with the Augmont group provides structural advantages in gold sourcing, risk management, and valuation expertise. This allows the firm to operate with a sophisticated risk architecture relative to its current size.
Guidance & Outlook
| Metric | Guidance / Outlook | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| AUM Growth | 40% - 50% (FY27) | Expected steady-state growth on a larger base, excluding unpredictable gold price movements. |
| Branch Expansion | 50 - 60 new branches | Targeted additions for the upcoming year to strengthen footprint in Tier-2/3 markets. |
| Leverage Ratio | 3x-4x (Medium-term) | Intent to optimize capital structure to align with industry peers and improve ROE. |
| Co-lending Mix | 10% - 15% of AUM | Targeting this proportion for off-book growth to manage capital efficiency via bank partnerships. |
Risks & Constraints
| Risk | Context |
|---|---|
| Gold Price Volatility | While elevated prices have aided AUM growth, management acknowledged that price fluctuations are outside their control and do not factor price appreciation into their internal 40-50% growth plans. |
| Operating Leverage Lag | Rapid branch expansion (targeting 50-60 new units) keeps OpEx-to-AUM and Cost-to-Income ratios high in the short term until new branches reach vintage maturity of 2-3 years. |
| Regulatory Transition | As the company approaches thresholds for higher regulatory layers, there is a risk of increased compliance costs and stricter governance requirements. |
Q&A Highlights
Yields and NIM Compression
- Question: What caused the sharp fall in NIMs despite maintained collection efficiency? (Urmish Shah)
- Answer: Compression is due to increasing finance costs as leverage moves from <1x to 1.67x. At an industry-average leverage of 3x-4x, NIMs will stabilize around 11-12% (Aakash Jain).
Strategic Focus
- Question: Do you intend to remain a pure gold NBFC or diversify? (Rao Thakur)
- Answer: We wish to remain a gold NBFC for the next five years to maintain our differentiation. Any diversification will be selective and risk-adjusted (Naveen Kottala).
Growth Drivers
- Question: How much growth is from branch expansion vs. productivity vs. gold prices? (Preesha Shah)
- Answer: Roughly 50% of AUM growth came from new customers and 50% from price rise. Our future plans assume zero price increase to remain conservative (Priyank Kothari/Naveen Kottala).
Co-lending Strategy
- Question: How will co-lending affect your future AUM mix? (Mandira Agarwal)
- Answer: We are targeting 10-15% of AUM through co-lending. While it adds back-end procedures for bank concurrence, the customer experience remains identical to on-book lending (Aakash Jain/Naveen Kottala).
Key Takeaway
Finkurve Financial Services delivered a strong Q3 FY26 with AUM growing 118% YoY to ₹833 crores and PAT increasing 24% YoY. The performance was characterized by a healthy 19.5% yield in the gold loan segment—which now constitutes over 90% of the book—and superior asset quality with GNPA below 2.0%. Strategically, the company is transitioning its personal loan book to longer tenures and scaling its branch network, reaching 100 branches this quarter. While NIMs compressed to 15% due to rising leverage (now 1.67x), management views this as a normalization toward industry benchmarks. Looking ahead, the company guided for 40-50% growth in AUM and branch footprint, supported by a target leverage of 3x-4x and an increased focus on co-lending (10-15% of mix). Despite potential headwinds from gold price volatility and high initial expansion costs, Finkurve remains positioned to capture the shift from unorganized to organized gold lending through its tech-enabled platform.
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