Fintech Lender Indifi'S Revenue Nears Rs 100 Cr In FY22 While Losses Shrink 10%

The Fintech loan platform Indifi, which focuses on medium and small businesses, recently asserted that it achieved profitability in the first quarter of FY23. While we won't be able to verify this claim until the business submits its financial reports for the current fiscal year (FY23), Indifi did report a loss of roughly Rs 33 crore in the previous fiscal year. According to the company's annual financial statement submitted to the Registrar of Companies, Indifi's revenue from operations increased 66.3% to Rs 96.3 crore in FY22 from Rs 57.9 crore in FY21 (RoC). The business makes money by collecting processing fees from borrowers and charging lenders servicing costs, which include handling collections.

Through its own non-banking financial corporation (NBFC) Riviera and other lenders, the Gurugram-based company primarily facilitates collateral-free working capital or unsecured loans to SMEs across segments including travel, e-commerce, hotels, restaurants, retail companies, and trade entities. Riviera had Rs 635 crore in assets under management (AUM) as of FY22, with a 6.6% NPA rate, according to a CRISIL study. In FY22, Riviera's independent operating income was reported as Rs 81.2 crore, while the subsidiary reported a profit of Rs 8 lakh. With a 19.3% increase to Rs 9.52 crore in FY22, interest on fixed deposits was Indifi's main source of other income.

On the spending side, employee benefit costs made up the majority of the company's costs, accounting for 32% of the total. From Rs 34 crore in FY21 to Rs 43.9 crore in FY22, these expenses increased by 29%. Since the company facilitates loans, interest fees and borrowing costs were additional significant expenses for the business, increasing by 63.6% to Rs 36.31 crore in FY22 from Rs 22.2 crore the previous fiscal year (FY21).

In contrast to the Rs 15.08 crore written off in the FY21, Indifi wrote off Rs 33.11 crore in bad debts during the FY22. In the fiscal year ending March 2022, the expenditure of advertising and promotion also climbed by 21.2% to Rs 1.43 crore.

The Alok Mittal-led business also shelled out an additional Rs 1.71 crore for legal and professional fees, bringing its overall expenses for FY22 to Rs 138.4 crore. Indifi has been able to cut losses by 10.4% to Rs 32.8 crore in FY22 from Rs 36.6 crore despite a more than 35% increase in its expenses (FY21). In terms of individual rupees, the corporation spent Rs 1.44 to make one rupee in FY22.

In FY22, Indifi has shown great financial performance following the fiscal year that was plagued by pandemics (FY21). The corporation quickly expanded in FY22 while simultaneously managing its losses, which is a strong enough sign of better, more prosperous times in the upcoming fiscal. Importantly, the company's NBFC Riviera witnessed NPAs decrease by 45% from 11.1% in FY21 to 6.6% in the most recent fiscal year.

Since its establishment, the group has raised around Rs 390 crore in equity from a variety of sources, including private equity firms, promoters, and high net worth individuals (HNIs), with Rs 142 crore coming from these sources in FY22. Despite the group's losses during its early stages of business, its net value (including goodwill) remained a comfortable Rs 245 crore, while Riviera declared a net worth of Rs 151.8 crore and a Tier I ratio of 29.3% as of March 31, 2022.