In the financial year ending March 2023, Lendingkart, a digital lending platform catering to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), celebrated a tremendous turnaround in its financial standing.
The company surged into profitability for the first time, marking a staggering Rs 118 crore in profits—a striking shift from the previous fiscal year’s loss of Rs 203 crore. This financial stride was driven by a significant upswing in total revenues, which escalated to Rs 850 crore. Their income from operations witnessed an impressive uptick, scaling up to Rs 798 crore in FY23, reflecting a commendable growth rate of 29.5%.
The company’s expansion was equally remarkable, with its loan book increasing by 44% during the fiscal year 2022-23. Throughout the year, Lendingkart disbursed approximately Rs 4000 crores in loans, averaging about Rs 1,000 crore disbursed per quarter.
Lendingkart’s services extend across over 4000 cities and towns, covering a vast landscape of 11,700 pin codes in India. A substantial chunk of these loans—over 80%—was facilitated through collaborations with over 20 co-lending partners, including central banks and NBFCs, utilizing Lendingkart’s innovative tech platform, “2gthr”.
Lendingkart’s strategic alliances with key financial institutions such as Punjab National Bank, SDM Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, and Amazon have been pivotal in the company’s success trajectory.
Their proprietary co-origination/co-lending platform, “2gthr”, has significantly enhanced MSMEs’ access to financing. Lendingkart’s approach to loan assessment, driven by a machine-learning model that scrutinizes over 5,000 variables per loan, has revolutionized the evaluation of customer creditworthiness.
Several factors contributed to Lendingkart’s surge in profits. The company prudently managed its financial costs, maintaining its finance and interest expenses at Rs 250 crore, constituting 33% of its total expenditure.
Furthermore, Lendingkart effectively reduced impairment losses on financial asset loans and advances, signifying fewer provisions and write-offs (NPAs). Although the overall expenditure for FY23 surged to Rs 751 crore from Rs 88 crore in FY22, the company’s financial acumen allowed it to navigate increased legal costs, commissions, recruitment, advertising, and other overheads.
Lendingkart’s astute financial strategies and consistent efforts toward enhancing MSMEs’ access to credit have marked a groundbreaking year for the company in 2023.
