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| Product | Quantum (Rs. Cr) | Long Term Rating | Short Term Rating |
| Bank Loan Ratings | 50.00 | ACUITE A- | Negative | Assigned | - |
| Bank Loan Ratings | 200.00 | ACUITE A- | Negative | Reaffirmed | - |
| Non Convertible Debentures (NCD) | 75.00 | ACUITE A- | Negative | Assigned | - |
| Total Outstanding | 325.00 | - | - |
| Total Withdrawn | 0.00 | - | - |
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Rating Rationale |
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Acuité has reaffirmed its long-term rating of ‘ACUITE A-’ (read as ACUITE A minus) on the Rs. 200.00 crore bank loan facilities of Western Capital Advisors Private Limited (WCAPL). The outlook is 'Negative'. Acuité has assigned its long-term rating of ‘ACUITE A-’ (read as ACUITE A minus) on the Rs. 50.00 crore bank loan facilities of Western Capital Advisors Private Limited (WCAPL). The outlook is 'Negative'. Acuité has assigned its long-term rating of ‘ACUITE A-’ (read as ACUITE A minus) on the Rs. 75.00 crore non convertible debentures of Western Capital Advisors Private Limited (WCAPL). The outlook is 'Negative'. Rationale for the rating The rating factors in the company’s significant decline in the profitability over the last two financial years, due to the closure of the supply chain business in the FY24 and the extensive operational expenditure on Prabhaav Loans in FY25. The PAT in FY25 stood at Rs. 16.81 Cr. and in FY24 stood at Rs. 20.53 Cr. and in FY 23 it was Rs. 33.11 Cr. which is a ~38% decline in FY24 and a ~18% decline in FY25. Moreover, the profitability metrics as indicated by Return on Average Assets (ROAA) at 2.33 percent for FY25 as against 2.82 percent for FY24 has shown a similar decline as well. The shift in business strategy and vision towards retail loans (Prabhav Loans) has seen operating expenses in setting up this business line affect the firms profitability. However these Weaknesses are partially offset by the experienced management along with the support from resourceful promoters of Kejriwal Group. This support is shown via the adequate capitalisation levels at 39.66 percent with a tangible networth of Rs. 288.53 crore as on March 31, 2025. WCAPL has demonstrated sound asset quality metrics as it is reflected through the lower Net Non-performing (NNPA) levels of 0.08 percent as on March 31, 2025 as against 0.33 percent as on March 31, 2024. The AUM has increased from Rs. 526.17 Cr. in FY24 to Rs. 701.04 Cr. in FY25 where Prabhaav loans already constitutes ~18% of the overall AUM. Moreover, the substantial investment into the retail lending division is to yield returns as soon as the current financial year where there the operating income is expected to grow vis-a-vis the extensive infrastructure expansion that is taking place and therefore the performance of this development would be a key monitorable. |
| About the company |
| WCAPL based out of Mumbai was founded in 2019 with a vision to support the financial services ecosystem by providing growth capital to upcoming players including NBFCs / Fintechs / MFIs / SMEs. In FY21, the company diversified into Supply Chain Financing and Business Correspondent (BC) Retail lending partnerships. In FY24, the company pivoted towards secured MSME retail lending under its proprietary branch-led model, "Prabhaav Loans", and scaled back Supply Chain Financing due to shifting macroeconomic conditions. This strategic shift also aligned with RBI's Digital Lending Guidelines, transitioning from high-risk, high-FLDG models to lower-risk MSME-focused lending under retail partnerships. |
| Unsupported Rating |
| Not Applicable |
| Analytical Approach |
| Acuité has considered a standalone approach to the business and financial risk profile of WCAPL to arrive at the rating. |
| Key Rating Drivers |
| Strength |
| Support from Promoter group coupled with experienced management. WCAPL commenced its operations in 2019 and has received continuous support in the form of periodic capital infusion from the promoter group since its inception. WCAPL is promoted by the Kejriwal Group led by Kejriwal family. The Kejriwal group has infused funds amounting to Rs 173.75 crore since inception comprising equity and preference capital. Furthermore, Mr. Anil Kejriwal, founder of WCAPL is able backed by senior management team of WCAPL consisting of experienced professionals who have been in the lending business and have been associated with WCAPL since inception. Acuité believes that the company’s growth prospects will be supported by the promoters experience in the industry along with their demonstrated track record of resource raising ability. Healthy capital structure with stable gearing levels. The company has comfortable capitalization levels to support the near to medium term growth prospects. The capitalization levels of WCAPL majorly comprises Tier I capital, where CRAR stood comfortable at 39.66 percent (Tier I: 38.99 percent) as on March 31, 2025. The same stood at 51.90 percent (Tier I: 50.72 percent) as on March 31, 2024. The company’s capital structure is supported by a net worth of Rs. 288.53 crore as on March 31, 2025 and total debt of Rs. 489.92 Cr. resulting in a gearing of 1.70 times as on March 31, 2025 as against 1.21 times as on March 31, 2024 which will provide headroom for near term growth. Going forward, the company intends to leverage itself at around 3.00 to 3.50 times in the near to medium term. Acuité expects the capital structure to remain healthy with the healthy gearing levels considering the additional borrowings. Emergence of Prabhaav loans WCAPL in FY25 shifted their whole focus to Prabhaav loans which has allowed the firm to transition from its supply chain lending portfolio to LAP / Affordable home loans. LAP loans are primarily for secured loans for business expansion and debt consolidation while under the affordable home loan segment the firm lends to projects where there is self construction or any extension of existing property. The target customer segment is in Tier-2 to Tier-6 locations where the ROI would vary from 14-24 percents with an average ticket size of 8-9 lakh rupees. The tenure of these loans are ranging from 4 to 20 years. In FY25 Prabhaav loans have already contributed Rs. 123.2 Cr. to the AUM from a setup of 42 retail Prabhaav loan branches in 4 states off Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. WCAPL plans to continue the expansion phase in FY26 with the same rigour of FY25 where they are looking to open another 42 branches in three more states. Therefore, Acuite believes that WCAPL's ability to grow their AUM and Operating income in FY26 would be key monitorable as it would be a key indicator of the operational performance of the new branches that are being opened. |
| Weakness |
| Deteriorating earning profile The profitability of the company has deteriorated during FY25 and FY24 reflected by Return on Average Assets (ROAA) at 2.33 percent for FY25 as against 2.82 percent for FY24 as against 4.59 percent for FY23. Such deterioration comes at the back of shift in strategy as investment and disbursements are now going towards retail loan financing following a complete closure of its supply chain business. This closure of the supply chain business had affected the AUM and the loan portfolio for FY24 as the supply chain business held around 33% of the total AUM and loan portfolio, which is why it can be observed that the AUM had reduced from Rs. 752.18 Cr. in FY23 to Rs. 526.17 Cr. in FY24. However the introduction of Prabhaav loans into te portfolio mix has already allowed WCAPL to grow their AUM back to Rs. 701.04 Cr. where Prabhaav loans itself is contributing Rs. 123.20 Cr. to the total AUM. The profit after tax of the company stood at Rs. 16.81 crore for FY25 as against Rs. 20.54 crore for FY24. The Net interest margin improved to 8.94 percent for FY25. Acuitè believes that going forward the ability of the company to grow its loan portfolio while improving its operating income will be key monitorable. Moderate scale of operations The company commenced with FI/SME lending and is diversifying into building a granular retail segment. Loans offered under FI lending have an average tenure ranging between 3 to 24 months. WCAPL offers loan with ticket size ranging between Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 15 Cr. As on March 31,2025 around 43.33 percent of the outstanding portfolio has a ticket size less than Rs. 1 crore. Going forward WCAPL would be focusing on granularity of the portfolio by diversifying into other retail asset classes. Given the limited track record of operations their continued growth in the coming years will be a key monitorable. Acuité believes, the ability of the company to mobilize additional funding, profitable portfolio scale-up while maintaining asset quality will be crucial to the credit profile of the company. |
| Rating Sensitivity |
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- Efficient and Effective scale up of its retail lending arm - Acceptable movement in asset quality - Growth in AUM and disbursement levels and its impact on Interest Income - Dilution in promoter shareholding & support. |
| All Covenants |
| Currently not available, since these are proposed NCD limits |
| Liquidity Position |
| Adequate |
| WCAPL’s overall liquidity profile remains adequate with no negative cumulative mismatches in near to medium term as per ALM dated March 31, 2025. The company had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 95.79 crore and fixed deposits (held as security against borrowings) of Rs. 2.96 crore as on March 31, 2025. |
| Outlook: |
| Negative |
| 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 • Banks And Financial Institutions: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-45.htm • Default Recognition: https://www.acuite.in/view-rating-criteria-52.htm |
| Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument |
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