Jaipur-based Au Financiers set to start small finance bank ops in 2017

JAIPUR: Au Financiers (India) Ltd on Monday filed its application for small finance bank (SFB) licence with RBI which will allow it to undertake basic banking activities of accepting deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including farmers, micro businesses and small industries.
AU was the only asset financing NBFC out of the ten applicants from across the country which was awarded in-principle approval from RBI for SFB licence last year.
“In order to meet the guidelines for making the transition to small finance bank, we pared down foreign shareholding to 49% by selling stake in Au Housing Finance. It would take 45-60 days to get the final approval from the RBI to set up the bank,” said Sanjay Agarwal, founder and managing director of Au Financiers.
The company is planning to commence its SFB operations beginning 2017. As a NBFC, Au Financiers currently has over 300 branches spread over 10 states in the country.
“With strong presence in rural and semi-urban areas, Au Financiers is all set to embark on its banking journey with a network of 400 branches covering 10 states where we have operations now,” added Agarwal.
In the first quarter of the current financial year, advances of the company expanded by 52% taking its assets under management (AUM) to reach close to Rs 9,000 crore while its net profit witnessed quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) growth of 107% at Rs 59 crore. During 2015-16, its net profit jumped by Rs 51% to Rs 212 crore on a disbursement of Rs 5,619 crore that grew by 66%.