Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths:
- Diversified retail lending portfolio with an extensive branch network
The IIFL Finance group, having consolidated assets under management (AUM) of Rs 44,688 crore as on March 31, 2021 (Rs 37,951 crore as on March 31, 2020; Rs 34,904 crore as on March 31, 2019), is primarily engaged in secured lending across various retail asset classes. IIFL Finance has two lending subsidiaries, IIFL Home and Samasta, which carry out the mortgage finance and microfinance businesses, respectively.
Retail loans accounted for almost 90% of the AUM as on March 31, 2021, with a high level of granularity (loans of less than Rs 1 crore). Also, more than 40% of the portfolio qualifies under priority sector lending. The group had identified four key segments - home loans, business loans (including loan against property {LAP} and lending to micro small and medium enterprises—MSME), gold loans and microfinance, as key growth drivers over the medium term. These four segments form around 89% of the AUM as on March 31, 2021, up from 61% as on March 31, 2016. The group has also been operating in two synergistic segments - construction & developer funding and capital market lending. A substantial part of developer funding book is proposed to be transferred to an alternative investment fund. Capital market lending will largely focus on the retail clients of IIFL Securities. In-line with the strategy to focus on select segments, the group discontinued medical equipment financing from fiscal 2018, and also sold its commercial vehicle (CV) finance portfolio in fiscal 2019.
As of March 31, 2021, the IIFL Finance group had a wide network of 2,563 branches spread across 25 states. The group has invested substantially in technology to effectively benefit from its geographical reach. Going forward, the group plans to leverage business synergies with other IIFL entities for cross-selling of financial products (such as insurance and mutual funds) and retail loan products, given the already established branch and distribution platform.
On a standalone level, IIFL Finance had an AUM of Rs 19,199 crore as on March 31, 2021 (Rs 16,057 crore as on March 31, 2020) primarily towards gold loans (68%), business loans (11%) and developer and construction finance (18%).
IIFL Home had an AUM of Rs 20,694 crore as on March 31, 2021 (Rs 18,495 crore as on March 31, 2020) largely toward home loans (70%), followed by LAP (26%) and construction finance (4%).
Samasta had an AUM of Rs 4796 crore as on March 31, 2021 (Rs 3,400 crore as on March 31, 2020).
The IIFL Finance group is adequately capitalised, with a consolidated networth of around Rs 5,393 crore as on March 31, 2021 (Rs 4,766 crore as on March 31, 2020). Networth coverage for net non-performing assets (NPAs) was comfortable at around 16 times as on March 31, 2021 (17 times as on March 31, 2020). On-book gearing as on same date was adequate at around 5.3 times; however, CRISIL Ratings–adjusted gearing (on-book borrowings + securitization/assignment) was higher at around 8.0 times. Nevertheless, the group has demonstrated its ability to raise capital from long-term marquee investors such as Fairfax and the CDC group (Rs 1000 crore raised from CDC in fiscal 2017). Also, the company has recently raised subordinated bonds to boost capitalization levels. Given the growth plans, capitalisation should remain adequate for the current scale of operations. However, the ability to raise capital and manage leverage levels over the medium term will be an important factor.
As on March 31, 2021, IIFL Finance (standalone) had a net worth and CRISIL Ratings- adjusted gearing stood at Rs 3,821 crore and 5.5 times, respectively. It had a Tier-I capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and overall CAR of 17.5% and 25.4%, respectively, as on same date. Networth coverage for net NPAs was around 27 times.
As on March 31, 2021, IIFL Home had a networth and CRISIL Ratings- adjusted gearing of Rs 2,164 crore and 8.6 times, respectively. Its Tier-I and overall CAR stood at 19.61% and 22.98%, respectively, as on same date. Networth coverage for net NPAs was around 12 times.
As on March 31, 2021, Samasta’s net worth and CRISIL Ratings-adjusted gearing stood at Rs 649 crore and 6.3 times, respectively. Tier-I and overall CAR were 15.1% and 18.5%, respectively, as on same date.
Weakness:
- Limited seasoning of some of the asset classes like home loans and MSME loans
IIFL Finance group’s loan portfolio (excluding CV finance) has recorded a three-year compound annual growth rate of around 18%. Given the scale up of the loan book in recent years and entry into newer segments, the portfolio remains unseasoned and hence, overall asset quality is yet to be tested through cycles. While certain products have a shorter tenure, and hence, have seen a complete cycle, home loans and MSME lending have limited seasoning so far. Home loans are long tenure products and MSME lending is a recent addition to the product suite. Reported gross NPAs and net NPAs stood at 2.14% and 0.97%, respectively, as on March 31, 2021 (2.31% and 0.97%, respectively, as on March 31, 2020). However, excluding the discontinued healthcare finance business, gross NPAs and Net NPAs stood at 1.98% and 0.89% as on March 31, 2021(2.04% and 0.82%, respectively, as on March 31, 2020). Also, while increasing focus on small-ticket retail loans will benefit the inherent asset quality over the medium term, ability to underwrite and maintain strong credit practices across asset classes, amid stiff competition from established players, remains to be seen.
NPAs in the wholesale book declined, supported partly by write-offs, to 1.1% as on March 31, 2021, from 3.8% as on March 31, 2020. Nevertheless, the share of wholesale lending has come down over the past few years (10% of the overall AUM as on March 31, 2021). Further, IIFL Finance plans to transfer a significant proportion of the wholesale lending, primarily large ticket RE loans, to an AIF platform in the near term. Given the current macro environment, asset quality on exposures such as developer loans and large ticket LAP would be a key monitorable for all lenders, including IIFL Finance.
While retail asset quality has remained under control in the past, it could witness an increase in delinquencies across segments post the onset of the second wave of Covid-19 which had impacted the cash flows of the underlying borrowers. Any sharp deterioration in asset quality, will also impact profitability and capital, and remains a key rating monitorable.
Gross NPA of IIFL Finance (standalone), IIFL Home and Samasta stood at 2.4%, 2.0% and 1.8%, respectively, as on March 31, 2021 (3.1%, 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively, as on March 31, 2020).