Product Quantum (Rs. Cr) Long Term Rating Short Term Rating
Bank Loan Ratings 16.96 ACUITE A- | Reaffirmed & Withdrawn -
Bank Loan Ratings 33.04 Not Applicable | Withdrawn -
Total Outstanding 0.00 - -
Total Withdrawn 50.00 - -
 
Rating Rationale

­Acuité has reaffirmed and withdrawn the long-term rating of 'ACUITE A-' (read as ACUITE A minus) on the Rs. 16.96 Cr. bank facilities of Satin Finserv Limited (SFL). The rating is being withdrawn on account of the request received from the company and the No Objection Certificate (NOC) received from the banker as per Acuité’s policy on withdrawal of ratings as applicable to the respective facility/instrument.

Acuité has withdrawn the long-term rating on the Rs. 33.04 Cr. bank facilities of Satin Finserv Limited (SFL) without assigning rating as it is a proposed facility. The rating is being withdrawn on account of the request received from the company as per Acuité’s policy on withdrawal of ratings as applicable to the respective facility/instrument.

Rationale for rating

The rating continues to factor significant uptick in the portfolio along with healthy capital buffers owing to infusions and improvement in the earnings profile. The portfolio growth is driven by traction in disbursements. The group disbursed a total of Rs. 10,549 Cr. for FY24 as against Rs. 8,087 Cr. for FY23. The AUM increased to Rs. 11,850 Cr. as on FY24 from Rs. 9,115 Cr. as on FY23. The profitability stood impacted in FY23 due to sizable credit costs. The group incurred a total credit cost (including write offs) of Rs. 408 Cr. in FY23 vis-à-vis previous year levels of Rs. 180 Cr. Accordingly, the PAT moderated to Rs. 4.81 Cr. in FY23 (Rs. 20.7 Cr. for FY22). Nevertheless, post the one-time measure of write-offs undertaken, the net profits have improved in the current fiscal reflected by a PAT of Rs. 436 Cr. for FY24.

The rating continues to take into consideration the established position and long track record of Satin Group and the support Satin Finserv Limited draws from the parent. The rating also takes into consideration the healthy capitalisation, comfortable liquidity and well diversified resource profile of the company. The group raised equity at regular intervals through existing and new investors to aid capital buffers. In Q3FY24, Satin raised Rs. 250 Cr. via QIP placement which is expected to maintain the capitalisation.

The rating, however, remains constrained by the vulnerability of the borrowers in microfinance segment and moderate asset quality metrics. Due to sizable write-offs made by the group, ­Satin Creditcare Network Limited (SCNL)’s on book GNPA recovered to 3.28 percent as on FY23 from 8.01 percent as on FY22 (2.38 percent as on Sep-23). The GNPA further improved to 2.49 percent as on FY24. However, the GNPA for H1FY25 stood slightly deteriorated at 3.5 percent.  With majority of the portfolio being originated recently, the susceptibility to any slippages remains high. On a standalone level, the GNPA of Satin Finserv Limited stood at 4.32 percent with a NNPA of 2.63 percent as on Mar-24. Going forward, the ability of the group to contain the credit costs while scaling up the portfolio will remain a key rating monitorable.

About the Company
­Incorporated in 2018, SFL is a 100 percent subsidiary of SCNL, the flagship company of Satin group. SFL obtained its license from RBI in 2019. SFL is engaged in the business of providing various financial services to entrepreneurs, MSMEs and individual businesses, as well as lending to other MFI companies. SFL offers products in the retail segment, with ticket size upto Rs. 3.5 Lakh and wholesale segment, with ticket size up to Rs. 5 Cr. The company is based is based in Haryana.
 
About the Group
­Satin Creditcare Network Limited (SCNL) is the flagship company of Satin Group which started its operations in 1990. It started with providing financial services to shopkeepers in the unbanked sectors of the society. After three decades SCNL is one the major players in the country in the MFI and SME lending sector. Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, the company focuses on providing inclusive growth through its various financial products. SCNL has Satin Housing Finance Limited and Satin Finserv Limited (merged with Taraashna Financial Services Limited) as subsidiaries. All together these companies form Satin Group.
 
Unsupported Rating
­Not applicable
 
Analytical Approach

Extent of Consolidation
•Full Consolidation
Rationale for Consolidation or Parent / Group / Govt. Support
­­While arriving at the ratings, Acuité has taken a consolidated view on the credit profile of Satin group of companies (SCNL has Satin Housing Finance Limited and Satin Finserv Limited (merged with Taraashna Financial Services Limited) as subsidiaries), collectively referred to as the Satin group. The consolidation is in view of common promoters, shared brand name, and strong financial and operation synergies. Acuité expects financial, managerial and operational support from SCNL will continue to be available to all the key group companies of Satin group.
Key Rating Drivers

Strength
­Strong and established track record and experienced management
The Satin group was founded in 1990. Now after three decades it is one the major players in the country in the MFI and SME lending sector. Satin group is led by Mr. Harvinder Pal Singh, who has been incremental in the group’s growth. Besides lending, he has experience in the field of auditing, accounts, project financing, advisory services and company law matters. His financial engineering experience of more than three decades has helped the Company in operational strategy and efficiency. He is also part of the SFL board. SCNL and SFL also get the guidance of Mr. Sundeep Kumar Mehta, who is an independent director and has an experience of nearly two decades. Previously he was associated with the RKJ group, Escorts Ltd, Panacea Biotech ltd, Bata India Ltd, and Eicher Good Earth Ltd at different capacities. The board of directors of SCNL and SFL also have Mr Anil Kumar Kalra who has nearly four decades of experience in Banking, Financial Services, Investment Banking and Infrastructure Financing both in India and abroad. The SCNL board of directors include Mr Satvinder Singh, who was associated with the company since inception and served as MD for over 15 years. SCNL draws support from Mrs Sangeeta Khorana, Independent Director, who is a former Indian Civil Services officer with a doctorate in International Economics. SCNL also has Mr Goh Colin, founder and CEO of the RICE Co. Ltd. and Mr Sanjay Bhatia, who has more than three decades of experience across leading corporates, start-ups and BAU environments, as independent directors.

Improvement in scale of operations
The group disbursed a total of Rs. 10,549  Cr. for FY24 as against Rs. 8,087 Cr. for FY23. The AUM increased to Rs. 11,850  Cr. as on FY24 from Rs. 9,115 Cr. as on FY23. Since December 31, 2022, the group has added 119 branches leading to overall branch network of 1,386 as on December 31, 2023.
Owing to the completion of the merger with TFSL, Satin Finserv’s AUM stood at Rs. 501 Cr. including off-book portfolio taken over in the form of Business Correspondence. Acuité expects the disbursement trends to continue at the group level leading to further portfolio growth.
 
Healthy capitalization levels; recent capital infusions
SFL’s capitalisation stood healthy as reflected by the CRAR at 48 percent as on March 31, 2024. The parent company infused Rs. 40 Cr. into SFL in H1FY24. The gearing levels stood at 1.40 times as on March 31, 2024 as compared to 1.23 times as on March 31, 2023. The capitalization of SCNL at a standalone level stood adequate at 27.66 percent with a gearing of 3.30 times as on March 31, 2024. The group raised equity at regular intervals through existing and new investors to aid capital buffers. In Q3FY24, Satin raised Rs. 250 Cr. via QIP placement which is expected to further maintain the capitalisation metrics. Going forward, Acuité expects the group to benefit from the strong resource raising ability.

Weakness
­Earning profile impacted due to write-offs; albeit improving
The group incurred a total credit cost (including write offs) of Rs. 408 Cr. in FY23 vis-à-vis previous year levels of Rs. 180 Cr. Accordingly, the PAT moderated to Rs. 4.81 Cr. in FY23 (Rs. 20.7 Cr. for FY22). Nevertheless, post the one-time measure of write-offs undertaken, the net profits have improved in FY24 reflected by a PAT of Rs. 436 Cr. for FY24. However, any incremental slippages coupled with credit costs might have a bearing on the earning profile of the group. Acuité envisages that the current shift in the profitability might entail some sustenance.

Moderate asset quality
SCNL’s on book GNPA recovered to 3.28 percent as on FY23 from 8.01 percent as on FY22. The GNPA further improved to 2.49 percent in FY24 but slightly deteriorated to 3.5 percent for H1FY25. With majority of the portfolio being originated recently, the susceptibility to any slippages remains high. On a standalone level, the GNPA of Satin Finserv Limited stood at 4.32 percent with a NNPA of 2.64 percent as on Mar-24. Going forward, the ability of the group to contain the credit costs while scaling up the portfolio will remain a key rating monitorable.
ESG Factors Relevant for Rating
­Satin Group focuses on lending to the unbanked population. Some of the material governance issues for the financial services sector are policies and practices with regard to business ethics, board diversity and independence, compensation structure for board and KMPs, role of the audit committee and shareholders’ rights. On the social aspect, some of the critical issues for the sector are the contributions to financial inclusion and community development, responsible financing including environmentally friendly projects and policies around data privacy. The industry, by nature has a low exposure to environmental risks.
The entity maintains adequate transparency in its business ethics practices as can be inferred from the entity’s disclosures regarding related party transactions, vigil mechanism and whistle blower policy. The board of directors of the SCNL comprise of 6 independent directors including 1 female independent director out of a total of 8 directors. SFL has 4 directors of which 3 are independent directors including 1 female independent director.The audit committee formed by the entity majorly comprises of independent directors with the objective to monitor and provide an unbiased supervision of the management’s financial reporting process. Satin Group also maintains transparency in terms of disclosures pertaining to interest rate policy and its adherence to Fair Practice Code as disseminated by Reserve Bank of India's circular.
Satin group has been working towards safe water and sanitation in around 121 districts and more than 35,000 villages in 8 states viz Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal etc. SCNL’s is running clean energy programmes by providing customized financial solution.The Group received a Certificate of Excellence by UNFCC’s Clean Development Program.
 
Rating Sensitivity
Not Applicable
 
Liquidity Position
Adequate
­­Satin Group's liquidity buffers primarily depend on its cash inflows (collections from clients and loans from banks) vis. a vis. the cash outflows (disbursements, debt servicing commitments, operating expenses). The group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at ~Rs. 1,271 Cr. at the end of March 31, 2024. As on September 30, 2023, there were no negative mismatches in the ALM statement of SFL. Acuité believes Satin Group has adequate liquidity to meet its debt obligation in near to medium term.
 
Outlook: Not Applicable
­
 
Other Factors affecting Rating
­None
 
Key Financials - Standalone / Originator
­
Particulars Unit FY24 (Actual) FY23 (Actual)
Total Assets Rs. Cr. 450.28 317.95
Total Income* Rs. Cr. 91.93 87.96
PAT Rs. Cr. 5.15 6.06
Net Worth Rs. Cr. 182.79 137.68
Return on Average Assets (RoAA) (%) 1.34 2.12
Return on Average Net Worth (RoNW) (%) 3.21 4.5
Debt/Equity Times 1.40 1.23
Gross NPA (%)  4.32 4.60
Net NPA (%)  2.64 2.67
*Total income equals Net Interest Income plus other income
 
Key Financials (Consolidated)
­
Particulars Unit FY24 (Actual) FY23 (Actual)
Total Assets Rs. Cr. 10480.93 7760.99
Total Income* Rs. Cr. 1338.94 934.10
PAT Rs. Cr. 435.94 4.81
Net Worth Rs. Cr. 2400.85 1628.12
Return on Average Assets (RoAA) (%) 4.78 0.06
Return on Average Net Worth (RoNW) (%) 21.64 0.3
Debt/Equity Times 3.30 3.63
Gross NPA^ (%)  2.49 3.28
Net NPA^ (%) 0.99 1.49
*Total income equals Net Interest Income plus other income
^NPA figures are standalone (SCNL)
 
Status of non-cooperation with previous CRA (if applicable)
­Not applicable
 
Any Other Information
­None
 
Applicable Criteria
• Non-Banking Financing Entities: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-44.htm
• Banks And Financial Institutions: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-45.htm
• Default Recognition: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-52.htm
• Application Of Financial Ratios And Adjustments: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-53.htm
• Consolidation Of Companies: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-60.htm

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument

Date Name of Instruments/Facilities Term Amount (Rs. Cr) Rating/Outlook
15 Feb 2024 Term Loan Long Term 16.96 ACUITE A- | Stable (Upgraded from ACUITE BBB+ | Stable)
Proposed Long Term Bank Facility Long Term 33.04 ACUITE A- | Stable (Upgraded from ACUITE BBB+ | Stable)
17 Nov 2022 Term Loan Long Term 16.96 ACUITE BBB+ | Stable (Assigned)
Proposed Long Term Bank Facility Long Term 33.04 ACUITE BBB+ | Stable (Assigned)
­

Lender’s Name ISIN Facilities Date Of Issuance Coupon Rate Maturity Date Quantum
(Rs. Cr.)
Complexity Level Rating
Not Applicable Not avl. / Not appl. Proposed Long Term Bank Facility Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 33.04 Simple Not Applicable|Withdrawn
State Bank of India Not avl. / Not appl. Term Loan Not avl. / Not appl. Not avl. / Not appl. 19 Feb 2027 16.96 Simple ACUITE A- | Reaffirmed & Withdrawn
­
*Annexure 2 - List of Entities (applicable for Consolidation or Parent / Group / Govt. Support)
­
Sr.No. Company Name
1 Satin Creditcare Network Limited (SCNL)
2 Satin Finserv Limited (SFL); merged with Taraashna Financial Services Limited (TFSL)
3 Satin Housing Finance Limited (SHFL)
 

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