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| Product | Quantum (Rs. Cr) | Long Term Rating | Short Term Rating |
| Bank Loan Ratings | 177.52 | ACUITE A- | Stable | Upgraded | - |
| Non Convertible Debentures (NCD) | 27.90 | ACUITE A- | Stable | Upgraded | - |
| Total Outstanding | 205.42 | - | - |
| Total Withdrawn | 0.00 | - | - |
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Rating Rationale |
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Acuité has upgraded the long-term rating of ‘ACUITE BBB+’ (read as ACUITE triple B plus) to ‘ACUITE A-’ (read as ACUITE A minus) on the Rs.27.90 Cr. of Non-Convertible Debentures of Indel Money Limited (Erstwhile Indel Money Private Limited) (IML). The Outlook is 'Stable'.
Acuité has upgraded the long-term rating of ‘ACUITE BBB+’ (read as ACUITE triple B plus) to ‘ACUITE A-’(read as ACUITE A minus) on the Rs 177.52 Cr. bank facilities of Indel Money Limited (Erstwhile Indel Money Private Limited) (IML). The Outlook is 'Stable'. Rationale for the rating The rating upgrade reflects the significant improvement in the company’s earnings profile and the healthy growth in operational performance. Indel Money Limited (IML) reported a PAT of Rs.75.59 crore during 9MFY26, compared to Rs.44.58 crore in FY25 and Rs.39.86 crore in FY24. This improvement is driven by growth in disbursements, supported by an increase in branch network and focused business initiatives.The company’s AUM rose to Rs.3,477.36 crore as of 9MFY26, against Rs.2,334.44 crore in FY25 and Rs.1,533.83 crore in FY24. Disbursements also gained traction, with H1FY26 disbursements at Rs.4,720.26 crore, compared to Rs.5,542.31 crore in FY25 and Rs.3,263.81 crore in FY24. The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained adequate at 20.47% as of 9MFY26, compared to 20.52% in FY25 and 22.59% in FY24. The company has infused equity at regular intervals to maintain capital buffers.The rating remains constrained by the highly competitive nature of the gold loan business and geographical concentration risks. Acuité believes that, going forward, the company’s ability to sustain comfortable capitalization levels through regular equity infusion, maintain healthy resource-raising capacity, and further scale operations while preserving profitability and asset quality will be key rating monitorables. |
| About the company |
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Indel Money Limited (IML) is a part of Indel Corporation Private Limited, promoted by Mr. Mahanan Gopalkrishnan, a business group with investments across financial services, automobile, hospitality, infrastructure development, media, communication, and entertainment. Incorporated in 1986, Indel Money Limited, is a Non-Deposit Taking Non- Banking Finance Company (ND-NBFC) based out of Kerala. The company is promoted by Mr. Mahanan Gopalkrishnan (Managing Director) and his son Mr. Umesh Mohanan (CEO). IML provides fund-based services like Gold Loan, MSME Loans, Business Loans (Secured & Unsecured), loans to group companies and a small portion of personal & trader loans. IML also provides fee-based services by way of money transfer facilities.
Mr. Narasinganallore Venkatesh Srinivasan, a common director on the Boards of Acuite Ratings & Research Limited and the rated entity, was neither involved in the rating process nor participated in the Rating Committee. |
| Unsupported Rating |
| Not Applicable |
| Analytical Approach |
| Acuité has considered a standalone approach to the business and financial risk profile of IML to arrive at the rating. |
| Key Rating Drivers |
| Strength |
| Promoter support and experienced management team
The extensive experience of the promoters and senior management team, with the addition of independent directors, should continue to support the business. Mr. Mohanan Gopalakrishnan (chairman and managing director) is a banking professional with more than 30 years of experience in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). He was also the head of trade finance operations of United Arab Bank for a span of 11 years commencing from 2001. Mr. Umesh Mohanan (executive director and CEO) handled a Middle Eastern conglomerate, spearheading its global operations for 12 years till 2016. Apart from the promoter directors, the board members of IML consists of prominent independent directors such as Mr. N S Venkatesh (CEO of Association of Mutual Funds in India), Mr. C R Sasikumar (former Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore), Mr. S Ganesh (former principal chief general manager of RBI), Acantharean T R (CA) & Mr. Salilvenu (Admin Professional). Acuite believes that company will continue to benefit from the extensive experience of the promoters and management team along with Independent Director. Healthy growth in AUM AUM grew to Rs. 3477.36 Cr. as on Dec 31, 2025 as compared to Rs. 2334.44 Cr. as on March 31, 2025 (Rs. 1533.83 Cr. as on March 31, 2024). Loan against gold contributes more than 90 percent to the total POS followed as on December 31, 2025. The growth in AUM is supported by growth in number of branches and much focused business drives conducted by the company. Acuité believes that going forward the ability of the company to maintain comfortable asset quality and growth momentum in AUM will be key rating sensitivity. Improvement in financial performance IML has demonstrated a significant improvement in its earnings profile, supported by healthy operational growth. The company reported a PAT of Rs.75.59 crore in 9MFY26, up from Rs.44.58 crore in FY25 and Rs.39.86 crore in FY24. This performance is underpinned by strong disbursement momentum, expansion in branch network, and focused business drives. The AUM has grown steadily to Rs.3,477.36 crore as on 9MFY26 from Rs.2,334.44 crore in FY25 and Rs.1,533.83 crore in FY24, reflecting the company’s ability to scale operations effectively. Capitalization levels remain adequate, with CAR at 20.47% in 9MFY26, supported by regular equity infusion to maintain buffers. Healthy Asset Quality The company’s asset quality has shown marked improvement over the recent periods. GNPA levels reduced from 4.98% in FY24 to 1.88% in FY25 and further to 1.52% in H1FY26, while NNPA declined from 3.17% in FY24 to 1.35% in FY25 and 1.10% in H1FY26. This improvement is also reflected in the on-time portfolio, which strengthened significantly from 80.49% in FY24 to 94.78% in FY25 and further to 97.53% in H1FY26. The consistent decline in delinquency buckets across 0–30, 31–60, and 60–90 DPD categories underscores the company’s effective collection mechanisms and prudent credit practices. |
| Weakness |
| Leveraged capital structure
IML is engaged in loans against gold and SME loans secured and unsecured for a period of 12 - 24 months. The company’s networth stood at Rs. 319.45 Cr. and total debt stood at Rs. 1414.25 Cr. as on March 31, 2025. The company’s AUM stood at Rs. 2334.44 Cr. as on March 31, 2025 as compared to Rs. 1533.83 Cr. as on March 31,2024 (Rs. 1153.89 Cr. as on March 31,2023). IML’s gearing stood at 4.43 times as on March 31, 2025 (4.30 times as on March 31, 2024). To support the growth momentum IML would require further debt and considering the already leveraged capital structure the promoters may be required to infuse additional equity to support any future business growth. Going forward, Acuité believes that the company’s ability to manage its gearing levels will be a key monitorable and infusion of capital would be required for containing gearing levels and to support business growth. Geographical concentration risks IML started its operations in the state of Kerala and gradually expanded to the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and has recently expanded to other states like Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, thereby reducing the concentration in the state of Kerala. However, major concentration is in the state of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with exposure of 44.11 percent as on September 30, 2025. Thus, the company's performance is expected to be sensitive to highly competitive business of lending against gold and the occurrence of events such as natural calamities, which may adversely impact the credit profile of the borrowers.The company has plans to expand its operations in newer geographies and portfolio quality is these newer geographies is yet to be tested. Acuite believes that geographical concentration coupled with improved earning profile will continue to weigh on the company’s credit profile. |
| ESG Factors Relevant for Rating |
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Indel Money Limited is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) 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 company has a well-structured board consisting of eight directors, in which two of them are executive directors. Out of six non-executive directors, three are independent directors. IML does have one woman director on board. In accordance with the guidelines issued by RBI, the entity has constituted a Risk Management Committee that is responsible for identification, evaluation, and mitigation of operational, strategic, and external environment risks. IML provides fund-based services like Gold Loan, MSME Loans, Business Loans (Secured & Unsecured), loans to group companies and a small portion of personal & trader loans. IML also provides fee-based services by way of money transfer facilities.
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| Rating Sensitivity |
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| All Covenants |
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Restrictive Covenants under our Financing Arrangements
Many of the financing agreements include various restrictive conditions and covenants restricting certain corporate actions, and the Company is required to take the prior approval of the lender before carrying out such activities. For instance, the Company, inter alia, is required to obtain the prior written consent in the following instances:
Affirmative and Negative covenants precedent and subsequent to the Issue. The covenants precedent and subsequent to the Issue will be finalised upon execution of the Debenture Trust Deed which shall be executed within timeline as specified under Regulation 18 of SEBI NCS Regulations. Further, in the event our Company fails to execute the Debenture Trust Deed within a period specified under Regulation 18 of SEBI NCS Regulations, our Company shall pay interest of at least 2% p.a. to each NCD Holder, over and above the agreed coupon rate, till the execution of the Debenture Trust Deed. |
| Liquidity Position |
| Adequate |
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IML’s overall liquidity profile remains adequate with no negative cumulative mismatches in near to medium term as per ALM dated March 31, 2025. ALM is comfortable mainly on account of shorter tenor of loans provided by IML with access to longer tenure borrowings. As on March 31, 2025, the company had cash and bank balance of about Rs 94.44 Cr.
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| Outlook - Stable |
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| Other Factors affecting Rating |
| None. |
| Key Financials - Standalone / Originator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Status of non-cooperation with previous CRA (if applicable): |
| Not Applicable |
| Any other information |
| None |
| Applicable Criteria |
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• Application Of Financial Ratios And Adjustments: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-53.htm • Default Recognition: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-52.htm • Non-Banking Financing Entities: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-44.htm |
| Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument |
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