New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- SMFG India Credit has appointed former Axis Bank executive Ravi Narayanan as its chief executive officer with effect from August 28.
Narayanan succeeds the former MD and CEO Shantanu Mitra, who stepped down from his role in June.
Narayanan comes with over three decades of experience in retail and branch distribution. He has served in senior leadership capacities at Axis Bank and HDFC Bank. Apart from this, he has also served on the board of Axis Securities and Axis Mutual Fund.
"I look forward to collaborating with dedicated leaders and employees at SMFG India to accelerate retail business with our offerings and deepen customer engagement through our branch network across the country," Narayanan said in a note.
"My priority would be to drive sustainable growth, forge strategic partnerships, and strengthen our risk and compliance culture to deliver lasting value for all our stakeholders," he added.
SMFG India Credit Company Limited commenced in January 2006, and caters primarily to self-employed borrowers. It is wholly owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG).
The non-bank lender's secured lending portfolio consists of mortgage loans to retail customers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), commercial vehicle (CV) loans and secured rural loans such as two-wheeler loans, CV and mortgage loans. The unsecured portfolio comprises personal loans to salaried and self-employed individuals and group and individual loans in the rural space.
The company also operates a housing finance subsidiary SMFG Grihashakti.
The company's consolidated net profit fell to Rs 442 crore in the financial year ended March 2025 from Rs 670 crore a year ago. The company attributed the fall in the bottomline to a conscious slowdown in rural disbursements due to prevailing stress in the macro environment. In line with regulatory norms, the company removed the default loss guarantee benefit from expected credit loss provisioning. Further, the recently issued Karnataka Ordinance aimed at protecting borrowers from the excessive interest rates and harsh recovery practices also weighed on the company's bottomline.
The asset under management rose 25.4% year-on-year(y-o-y) to nearly Rs 57,000 crore as on March 31.
"Going forward, the Group's ability to grow the loan book while improving the profitability profile through controlled slippages and operating expenses will be a key rating monitorable," ICRA said in a recent note.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.