Fino Payments Bank LimitedUnclassifiedFINOPB
Q1 FY27 earnings callFino Payments Bank Limited
One of the toughest quarters due to a paused profitable B2B business and a February event, with the focus now on retail growth, customer acquisition, and referral lending in preparation for the small finance bank transition.
Numbers
| Metric | This quarter | Change | Five-quarter trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Revenue Margin | 42.8% | +275 bps QoQ, +925 bps YoY | |
| Referral Loan Disbursements | INR 628 crores | 214% YoY | |
| EBITDA | INR 43.1 crores | — | |
| Average Total Deposits | INR 2,772 crores | 12% YoY | |
| Renewal Income | INR 67.5 crores | 7% YoY | |
| Digitally Active Customers | 64.6 lakhs | 22% YoY | |
| Customer Accounts Added | 8.4 lakhs | — |
TL;DR
- A challenging quarter as a profitable B2B business is paused and will take at least a couple of quarters to relaunch.
- Net revenue margin expanded to 42.8%, its highest quarterly value, improving 275 basis points sequentially.
- Referral loan disbursements surged 214% year-on-year to INR 628 crores.
- On track for small finance bank transition, expecting to submit operational readiness to RBI by end of Q4 FY27.
- Customer base grew to 1.83 crores, adding 8.4 lakh new accounts; digitally active customers increased 22% year-on-year.
- EBITDA declined to INR 43.1 crores from INR 56 crores in Q4 FY26 due to paused business and investments.
Said on the call
“This quarter has been a testimony of resilience, and I'm glad that in a relatively difficult phase, we've been able to excel on our strategic priorities of retail growth and customer acquisition.”
From the Q&A
| Topic | What management said |
|---|---|
| Referral Loan Interest Rates & Portfolio Yield | Management stated the future small finance bank portfolio will target a blended average yield of about 14% on a predominantly secured book, which is better than current NBFC partners in the target segment. |
| Impact of Potential MDR on UPI | Management believes Fino will 'definitely' benefit qualitatively if the MDR proposal for transactions over INR 2,000 is implemented, as it would apply to B2B transactions. |
| SFB Technology Costs & Timeline | Large part of SFB tech investment is behind them with the Finacle migration; technology transition should be completed by FY27, and opex burden for SFB preparation is estimated at around INR 10 crores for the year. |
| Small Finance Bank ROE & NIM Guidance | While not giving specific ROE guidance, management expects the bank's Net Interest Margins (NIMs) to be in the range of 8% to 9%, which would be highest in the industry. |
| Leadership Hiring for SFB | Individuals for key leadership positions have been identified and are expected to join by the end of the calendar year, but the CEO appointment is being worked out by the Board with RBI. |
| Business Correspondent (BC) Sale Strategy | As an SFB cannot carry out BC activities for other banks, a restructuring of the BC business is required; a concrete plan on this is expected over the next quarter or so. |
| Liability Book Stability & Future Strategy | Management stated over 90% of the CASA book is stable core deposits, which behaved resiliently during recent stress events; for SFB, they plan a 65% CASA ratio and are less dependent on aggressive term deposit sourcing. |
Guidance
- All required milestones for SFB transition are expected to be completed within the prescribed 18-month timeline, with operational readiness to be submitted to RBI by end of Q4 FY27.
- Technology stack for end-to-end customer loan journey is under development and expected to be ready by Feb '27.
- A large part of SFB technology investment is done; remaining modules for lending (LOS, LMS) are being added.
- FY27 is a year of consolidation, building on the foundation, investing in people and technology, and pivoting to the next phase of growth.
- The business plan through FY30, built around a predominantly fee-based model complemented by secured lending, remains unchanged.
- Target blended portfolio yield for the SFB lending book is around 14%.
- NIMs are expected to be in the range of 8% to 9%.
- The B2B UPI P2M segment relaunch is tentatively expected in Quarter 4 FY27, subject to ecosystem developments.
Source
Summary written from the transcript filed by Fino Payments Bank Limited for the call held on 14 Aug 2026; published 18 Aug 2026, 19:59 IST.