Not surprisingly, MMFS posted muted results in Q1FY26, with PAT at ~Rs5.3bn largely hit by elevated credit cost (~25bps higher than our estimate of ~1.9% of business assets), and YoY AUM growth of 15%/disbursement growth of only 1%.
LTF reported a steady Q1FY26, with overall AUM crossing the Rs1trn mark and registering a 15% YoY (~13.8% excluding Gold Loans) growth, resulting from strong disbursements across the retail segment (including MFI and GL).
AU SFB reported weak core performance, with margins declining sharply by 40bps QoQ to 5.4%, although higher treasury gains and surprisingly lower nonstaff opex, amid bidding for a Universal Banking license led to a ~6% PAT beat, at Rs5.8bn/1.5% RoA.
FSOL has signed an agreement for acquiring Pastdue Credit Solutions (PDC) – a UK-headquartered debt collection agency serving UK’s several market-leading companies, including banks, utility firms, telecom players, and government bodies – for a cash consideration of £22mn (1.3x P/S on FY24 basis).
Despite slower credit growth and sharper margin contraction, RBL reported a 27% PAT beat at Rs2bn and 0.6% RoA, mainly due to higher treasury gains and contained provisions (50bps in Q1/2% annualized, including 6bps contingent provisions on JLG MFI loans).
ICICI Bank reported a resilient performance, with limited margin compression at 7bps QoQ to 4.34% (vs peers’ over 15bps drop) and nearly stable asset quality with headline GNPA ratio at 1.7%.
HDFC Bank is gradually stepping up credit growth, although margin slipped by 23bps QoQ from a higher base in 4Q due to swift rate cuts and lower interest on IT refund.
CEAT logged a healthy Q1 with 10.5% revenue growth led by 9%/1.5% volume/realization growth; overall vol growth was driven by a mid-20s/singledigit growth in OEM/replacement; realization was mostly muted due to headwinds for international business.
Route Mobile posted a mixed operating performance in Q1 – revenue missed expectations, while margin came ahead of estimates. Revenue declined 10.6%/4.8% QoQ/YoY, below our estimates.
The in-line NII and higher treasury income notwithstanding, Axis Bank reported a 10% miss on PAT (at Rs58bn) and 1.5% RoA, primarily due to significantly higher provisions as it tweaked its stress recognition policy on cash credit/overdraft (CC/OD) facility and owing to one-time settlement accounts.
Wipro reported steady operating performance in Q1, though one-off restructuring costs led to a miss on reported EBITM. IT Services revenue declined 0.3% QoQ to USD2.59bn (down 2% CC), in line with our expectations.
We maintain our long-term positive view on Marico with Jun-26E TP of Rs810 (on 50x P/E), given improved execution. However, the company’s near-term performance is likely to be impacted by the inflationary copra prices in both, India and Indonesia.
TTAN saw growth moderation in Q1 with 17% growth in the jewelry business vs recent trends of ~25% growth. Also, LTL growth for TTAN in the early double digits is weaker vs 18-19% for peers.
We met with Ameera Shah, Promoter and Executive Chairperson of Metropolis Healthcare (MHL), to gain insights into management strategy of growing organically (via network expansion) and inorganically (revenue synergies following the integration of recent acquisitions).