Tyger Capital to list by next year, targets Rs 20,000 crore book

Firm to open 60-65 new branches, on-board 600 employees in the current financial year as it spreads its network in the country

Bain Capital-backed Tyger Capital is planning to list its shares on the Indian stock exchanges by the next financial year and is targeting to grow its assets under management by four times to Rs 20,000 crore in five years from Rs 5,000 crore now, Gaurav Gupta, MD and CEO of the firm said.

In an exclusive interview, Gupta said that keeping with the growing business, the finance company expects to on-board 600 people in the current financial year as it is opening 60-65 new branches for broad-basing its network in the country.

“We have decided to penetrate deep into Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” Gupta said.

Bain Capital currently owns 90 per cent in the company while the rest is owned by its employees.

Post-acquisition by Bain Capital last year, the company has changed its branding to Tyger Capital from Adani Capital. The new branding signifies customer centricity and hence the letter “y” in Tyger which stands for you (the customer), Gupta explained.

“Our focus is on the micro segment as we cater to small businesses, farmers and first time home buyers. All our loans are secured/collateralised and we do not provide any unsecured loans. The end use of loans is important and our loans are generally provided for income generation or for home purchase or construction. Accessibility and availability of credit has improved and increased for borrowers given technology advancements today. Our underwriting policies have also been tweaked to factor into account higher incidence of unsecured loans amongst customers,” Gupta said.

“The company is currently operating in three segments, business loans, affordable home loans and rural mobility. The average ticket size Rs 10 lakh in case of business loan as well as housing finance,” Gupta said.

Gupta said the impact of the rise in interest rates on NIMs has been minimal.

“Almost all of our portfolios qualify for priority sector lending and hence impact of increased risk weights on lending to NBFCs also has been minimal. All loans to customers are on a floating rate basis,” he said.

The company expects to maintain its net interest margins (NIMs) at 11-12 per cent in Tyger Capital and 6-7 per cent in its home finance.

Gupta said the company’s liability strategy has been 50 per cent banks; 25 per cent capital markets and 25 per cent bank partnerships through co-lending/portfolio assignments.

“As our portfolio is largely priority sector loans (PSL) and we cater to small and marginal farmers, micro small and medium enterprises (MSME), we have an active dialogue with our banking partners. Today we have over 30 banking partners and include virtually all private and public sector banks. We haven’t availed foreign loans so far but will look to do so in the coming months. But this however will depend on the cost of funds,” he said.