Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths:
Adequate capitalisation, supported by multiple capital raises: The Edelweiss group has demonstrated its ability to raise capital from global investors across businesses, despite the tough macroeconomic environment. The group has raised ~Rs 6,000 crore since 2016 across lending, wealth management and asset management businesses. This has helped the group to maintain its capital position despite elevated credit costs, and absorb asset-side risks. The networth stood at Rs 5,918 crore as on March 31, 2025, against Rs 6,309 crore as on March 31, 2024 (Rs 8,581 crore as on March 31, 2023). The networth reduced from March 2024 levels due to strategic mark down done in the SR book. Earlier the networth had come down as ~30% of Nuvama’s networth was distributed to the shareholders of EFSL as part of the demerger.
Gearing stood at 3.02 times (excluding CBLO, 2.6 times) as on March 31, 2025, compared with 3.2 times (excluding CBLO, 2.9 times) as on March 31, 2024 (2.4 times as on March 31, 2023, and 2.5 times as on March 31, 2022). With increased focus on fee-based businesses, and strategy to grow in the credit business through an asset-light model, the incremental debt requirement will be low. Besides the stake sale done in Nuvama, the group plans to divest stake in alternative assets (for which the DRHP will be refiled with SEBI), mutual funds, housing, and general insurance businesses, which will further aid in unlocking capital and debt reduction.
Demonstrated ability to build significant competitive position across businesses: The Edelweiss group is a diversified financial services player with presence in four verticals: credit (wholesale and retail), insurance (life and general), asset management, and asset reconstruction. The group has attained leading positions in the alternative assets and asset reconstruction businesses and is focusing on building market position in other businesses, which should lend greater stability to earnings over time.
The asset management business comprises mutual fund and alternative asset businesses. The group is a leading player in the alternative asset segment and its mutual fund assets under management (AUM) have grown steadily. The asset management AUM grew to Rs 2,01,440 crore as on March 31, 2025, from Rs 1,81,700 crore as on March 31, 2024.
In the distressed assets segment, EARC was the largest asset reconstruction company (ARC) in India, with total securities receipts managed at Rs 27,850 crore as on December 31, 2024, compared with Rs 31,590 crore as on March 31, 2024 (Rs 37,100 crore as on March 31, 2023, and Rs 40,200 crore as on March 31, 2022).
As on March 31, 2025, EARC’s AUM reduced to ~Rs 14,817 crore from Rs 27,850 crore as on December 31, 2024 (Rs 31,590 crore as on March 31, 2024) as the company has written off its 5:95 portfolio, which had completed more than 8 years.
From being largely corporate focused, the ARC has, in the recent past, started focusing on the retail and MSME segments. The share of retail and MSME is expected to grow over the medium term.
In the lending business, while the wholesale book is under run down, the group’s focus is on growth in retail through the asset-light model. The key product offerings in the retail credit book would be mortgage and MSME loans. The group has entered into agreements for retail product offerings with various co-lending partners, which are large domestic and foreign banks, for both the priority and non-priority sector portfolios. Although the retail AUM picked up pace in fiscal 2024, the growth has been relatively slow due to delay in operationalising the onboarding and underwriting process with the co-lending partners. Subsequently, the overhang of the regulatory embargo impacted growth across the lending business. After growing to Rs 5,368 crore as on March 31, 2024, from Rs 4,879 crore as on March 31, 2023, the retail AUM stood at Rs 5,378 crore as on March 31, 2025.
The group also houses the life and general insurance businesses, which are gaining scale and are expected to break even over the medium term.
However, with the rundown of wholesale credit, divestment of the wealth management business, and planned stake sale in the asset management, housing finance and general insurance businesses, the diversity in the business risk profile is monitorable.
Weaknesses:
Subdued profitability for current size and scale considering presence in multiple businesses: The group’s profitability is lower than other large, financial groups. However, most of the businesses have been reporting profit since the last quarter of fiscal 2021.
The group reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 536 crore in fiscal 2025 against a PAT of Rs 528 crore in fiscal 2024 . The RoA was 1.3% compared to 1.2%, for these periods.
The group’s overall profitability is weighed down by loss in the insurance businesses as well as lower profitability in the lending business. Thus, ex-insurance profit stood at Rs 711 crore for fiscal 2025 against Rs 808 crore for fiscal 2024.
Of the various businesses, the asset reconstruction and asset management businesses, mainly alternative assets, remain the largest contributors to overall profitability (forming 90% of the overall PAT[1] for fiscal 2025). Notably, EARC’s profitability was supported by healthy redemptions even as there were nil acquisitions during the embargo period. However, the profitability of the credit business was impacted due to stagnation of growth. While the insurance businesses remain loss-making, the losses continue to reduce and the entities are expected to break even over the next 1-2 fiscals. Going ahead, the alternate assets business should continue to support profitability. Any additional provisioning required on the monitorable book based on the pace and extent of recovery from underlying assets will need to be seen. Thus, the group’s ability to scale up the retail lending business while managing overall credit costs will be crucial over the medium term and will remain a key monitorable.
Asset quality monitorable with elevated level of monitorable portfolio: The group’s overall gross loan book (excluding monitorable portfolio, net of gross stage III assets) stood at Rs 5,246 crore as on March 31, 2025, compared with Rs 5,537 crore as on March 31, 2024, and Rs 7,548 crore as on March 31, 2023. Of this, retail on book stood at Rs 4,080 crore (Rs 4,261 crore and Rs 3,795 crore) and the remaining was wholesale book.
The group has been consciously running down the wholesale portfolio through various modes. While recoveries have contributed to this, the reduction has been primarily due to sell-down to ARCs (both internal and external) and alternative investment funds (AIFs).
The Edelweiss group has retained risks and rewards on a large portion of this and hence, Crisil Ratings tracks the monitorable portfolio to assess the asset quality of the group. This includes gross stage III accounts in the lending book (Rs 416 crore), security receipts held by the group (including in EARC) pertaining to sell down (Rs 5,960 crore) and loans sold down to AIFs (Rs 1,348 crore). Overall monitorable portfolio stood at Rs 7,724 crore as on March 31, 2025. While the monitorable portfolio has reduced from Rs 12,097 crore as on March 31, 2022 (Rs 11,383 crore as on March 31, 2021), it remains elevated. Crisil Ratings notes that although majority of this monitorable portfolio is on-book exposure of the Edelweiss group, some part pertains to exposure of external ARC or AIF wherein the group has extended a put option.
The group has made provisions against the monitorable portfolio and, therefore, the net monitorable portfolio stood at Rs 4,395 crore as on March 31, 2025 (Rs 6,018 crore as on March 31, 2024). Based on management estimates, there is a reasonable level of collateral cover on most of this portfolio.
The overall gross stage III assets in the lending business stood at Rs 416 crore (7.9% of loans) as on March 31, 2025, compared with Rs 720 crore (13.0%) as on March 31, 2024, Rs 794 crore (10.5%) as on March 31, 2023, Rs 930 crore (8.9%) as on March 31, 2022, and Rs 1,601 crore (10.9%) as on March 31, 2021. Retail book gross stage III assets were at Rs 105 crore (2.3%) as on March 31, 2025, against Rs 78 crore (1.84%) as on March 31, 2024, and Rs 124 crore (3.3%) and Rs 182 crore (2.7%) as on March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively.
However, any challenges affecting the planned recoveries could necessitate higher provisioning and put pressure on profitability and hence, will remain monitorable.