ESAF Small Finance Bank FY26: Secured growth, improving asset quality, and the long road back to returns

As of March 31, 2026, gross advances were 22,426 crore and deposits were 25,850 crore. CASA was 6,181 crore with a CASA ratio of 23.9%.

GNPA was 5.4% and NNPA was 1.8% in Q4 FY26, improving from 6.9% GNPA and 3.0% NNPA in Q4 FY25.

M.A.R.G refers to MSME, Agriculture, Retail and Gold loans. The presentation shows M.A.R.G advances at 12,812 crore, contributing 57% of total advances as of March 2026.

Management indicated a steady-state credit cost of about 2%, expected from FY28 due to backlog provisioning in FY27, and stated an ROA target of 2% by FY28.

Management indicated steady-state loan growth of 20% to 25%, NIM around 7% plus or minus 0.5%, and cost-to-income around 55% plus or minus 2%.

It is ESAF’s digital transformation program to modernize core technology and business applications. Management expects implementation before the end of calendar year 2026, stated as before Q3 FY27.