Bajaj Finance Ltd — Q3 FY25
Bajaj Finance reported a solid Q3 FY25 with PAT of ₹4,308 crore (+18% YoY) and AUM growth of 28% YoY to ₹3.98 lakh crore.
neutral
medium
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
77%Questions answered0Evaded / deflected11Questions auditedContradictedNumbers vs filing
Partial answer
High priority
Confidence in credit cost trending lower and FY26 guidance
Asked by Kunal Shah, Citigroup
Provided qualitative improvement but deferred full-year guidance to Q4, with caveats.
deferred to Q4 for full-year guidanceconditional language
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Question
So you alluded that at least in terms of the incremental trend, it's improving. But otherwise, any other metrics which is giving you that much of a confidence that we would have picked out in terms of the credit cost because you indicated that it will keep on trending lower? And any guidance that you would want to give for FY26?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
December and so far January have been better. December was better on collection efficiencies. ... if Q4 is in range of 2-2.05%, then clearly next year number is sub 2% is what I would say.
Answered
Medium priority
Management transition roadmap after 12 months of plan
Asked by Kunal Shah, Citigroup
Gave clear timeline and process for board decision.
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Question
Now it's been almost a year. So how are we looking at it in terms of the management transitions, any discussions out there, and what would be the roadmap?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
We laid down a comprehensive 15-month transition plan, Kunal. We are 12 months into it. ... We expect the board to take a view on the way forward by Q4.
Partial answer
Medium priority
Debt management costs, headcount, and viability of small-ticket collections
Asked by Antariksha Banerjee, ICICI Prudential
Provided headcount and physical collection share but avoided cost per head and viability threshold.
did not give cost per headdid not specify unviable ticket size
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Question
What kind of effects does it incur given the fact that the system is under stress? How are costs per head panning out? Has that gone up significantly? What is the number of people involved? When does collection become unviable in terms of ticket size?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
We added close to 4,000 people in Q1 and Q2 in debt management. ... 20,000 people are in debt management, but they are all managers. ... 48% of the collection is still physical.
Answered
High priority
Size of non-Bajaj franchise lendable customer base in Airtel partnership
Asked by Antariksha Banerjee, ICICI Prudential
Provided a specific number for the target customer base.
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Question
What is the size of the opportunity in that partnership?
Harjeet Toor, Deputy CEO
Roughly about 200 million is the set we are targeting, which does not overlap with BFF.
Answered
Medium priority
Has risk pricing improved in high-ticket personal loans?
Asked by Antariksha Banerjee, ICICI Prudential
Clearly stated pricing has not improved and pressure has intensified.
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Question
Has that scenario improved in the high-ticket segments in the sense as compared to?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
Pricing has not changed. I mean, in fact, anyway, as the credit growth has slowed, the pricing pressure across the board has further intensified only.
Partial answer
High priority
1DPD formation trends across portfolios – stabilized or improved?
Asked by Piran Engineer, CLSA
Provided qualitative color per segment but no specific 1DPD numbers.
no quantitative 1DPD dataqualitative only
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Question
Can you share at least qualitatively, if not quantitatively, what are the 1DPD formation trends across portfolios? Has that stabilized? Has that improved?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
Urban B2B remains pretty strong. ... Urban B2C, default rates are lower, collection efficiencies are still lower. ... SME lending had, from April to October, had gone up significantly. ... November, December is back to, at this point in time, the best ever that we have seen in the last two years.
Answered
High priority
Disconnect between SME amber rating and 40% growth
Asked by Piran Engineer, CLSA
Corrected growth rate and explained current vs. target, with business cuts.
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Question
In terms of contagion to SME, you've also marked it as amber in your PPT, but you're still growing at 40% in this business. So what really what's the disconnect here?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
It's at 98.67% current in an MSME book. It used to be at 99%. ... last three months, we've cut the business by 30%. Growth is 31%, right? It's not 40.
Answered
Medium priority
Reconcile used car caution with accelerating business statement
Asked by Viral Shah, IIFL Securities
Clearly distinguished new car acceleration from used car refinance cuts.
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Question
In the executive summary, it's mentioned that you are looking at accelerating this business, but on the other hand, you are saying that you are cutting down the business over here.
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director and Anup Philip, VP
New car is accelerating. Used car is, ... elevated losses are mostly in the refinance, and that's where we have taken sharp cuts. ... sale purchase is not a problem.
Partial answer
High priority
AUM growth outlook for next 12 months and NIM drivers
Asked by Chintan Joshi, Autonomous
Provided growth guidance but NIM discussion was qualitative with limited specifics.
deferred full guidance to next quarterno specific NIM number
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Question
How do you think about AUM growth for the next kind of 12 months? ... on NIMS, could you go a little bit more into the push and pull factors within the quarter?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director and Anup Philip, VP
We would like to grow on a consolidated basis. Balance sheet should grow by 25%. ... we don't see more than 4-5 basis points play on cost of fund in the next year.
Answered
High priority
Timeline for converting to a bank, management transition, fee income growth
Asked by Shubhranshu Mishra, PhillipCapital
Gave clear stance on bank conversion, succession timeline, and fee income outlook.
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Question
When do we convert to a bank? ... your term ends March 2025. How do we think of management transition after that? ... What kind of fee income growth can we see from FY25 levels and FY26?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
We've said we would like to remain a non-bank. ... matter will be reviewed by NRC of the board by March. ... on the fee income growth, I would say, given the environment, we would remain in the current state.
Partial answer
High priority
When will profit growth outpace AUM growth again (rising crescendo)?
Asked by Bharat Shah, ASK Investment Managers
Acknowledged the question but deferred to credit cost normalization without a firm timeline.
no specific timeline for profit growth accelerationconditional on credit cost
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Question
When do we hear 28% and 30% growth in the bottom line?
Rajeev Jain, Managing Director
One part of the symphony which is at play is credit cost. ... as that churns through, we as managers are clear. ... one, two quarters maximum, we have stabilized from increasing.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit growth target of 22%-23% for next fiscal | 22.5% | 18% | Overstated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.