The non-banking finance company (NBFC), which reported a 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in assets under management (AUM) to ₹1.07 trillion and a 67 per cent rise in profit after tax (PAT) to ₹461 crore in the April-June quarter of 2026-27 (FY27), said unsecured loans, loan against property and digital lending would drive growth as it remains on track to achieve its FY27 guidance. Retail disbursements rose 44 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹12,527 crore during the quarter.
“Right now, the two segments that are doing really well, unsecured lending is doing quite well. So we’ll continue to see much higher growth there. In addition, loan against property is doing quite well as well. The digital lending business has been doing very, very strongly as well. Right now, we like the risk return profile of the business where we feel that the credit risk levels have come off quite a bit, but the return ratio is still strong. So we are keen to explore doing more of this business right now,” Sridharan said.
The company is also focusing on its gold loan business, though the emphasis in the first year will remain on expanding its distribution network rather than pursuing aggressive loan growth. Piramal Finance entered the business at the end of March and has opened 67 gold loan branches. It plans to expand the network to 200 branches by the end of FY27.
Rural lending will be another key investment area over the next 12-18 months. Piramal Finance expanded its network to 780 branches across 607 cities during the quarter. Sridharan said the company opened around 40-42 rural branches during the quarter and would continue expanding its rural footprint.
“Apart from gold, the other big area of focus for us is rural. Rural and gold are our big areas of focus for the next year, year and a half,” he said.
The board has approved an enabling resolution to raise up to ₹4,000 crore through equity over the next year, although the timing will depend on market conditions.
“It will be a growth capital. We are growing so strongly that we will continue to require infusions of capital to support the level of strong organic growth that we are seeing in the business,” Sridharan said.
On the liabilities side, Piramal Finance’s average borrowing cost declined 33 basis points Y-o-Y to 8.8 per cent in Q1. While the company intends to increase overseas borrowings and securitisation over the medium term to diversify its funding sources and reduce reliance on banks, Sridharan said elevated external commercial borrowing costs have made overseas funding unattractive in the near term.
The company does not expect any significant change in its portfolio mix. Retail loans account for 85 per cent of total AUM, while wholesale lending contributes around 15 per cent.
On the outlook for the sector, Sridharan said the progress of the monsoon and the interest rate trajectory would remain key monitorables for NBFCs. He added that recent RBI and government measures to attract foreign inflows would support the lending environment.