Kissht says better borrowers are lifting loan tickets and tenures

Kissht said AUM rose 68% year-on-year to Rs 9,317 crore in the September 2026 quarter because repeat borrowers took larger loans, the company acquired higher-quality customers with larger needs, and average tenure reached 17.8 months. Customers served rose 22% to 12.8 million, leaving AUM growth well ahead of customer growth.

Why did Kissht AUM grow faster than its customer base?

Kissht said three factors drove AUM faster than customer growth: deeper borrowing by existing customers, larger tickets among newly acquired higher-quality borrowers, and longer loan tenures. AUM reached Rs 9,317 crore, up 68% year-on-year and 16% quarter-on-quarter, while customers served increased 22% year-on-year to 12.8 million.

Management said its repeat-customer rate increased and repeat borrowers also took larger tickets. It said the newer higher-quality customer group had higher incomes and larger borrowing requirements, while modestly longer terms allowed lower loan pricing without changing its assessment of repayment risk. The average ticket was Rs 43,380 and the average tenure was 17.8 months.

AUM also outgrew disbursements, which rose 56% year-on-year to Rs 4,612 crore. Management said this was deliberate: loans to better customers remain outstanding for longer, allowing the portfolio to build faster than current-period disbursements. Active customers rose 58% year-on-year to 3.61 million, a faster increase than total customers served but still below the AUM growth rate.

Kissht said it has capacity to raise ticket sizes but has kept customer-level exposure moderate. Its explanation therefore differs from a broad loosening of underwriting: management attributed larger loans to selected customers with lower estimated probabilities of default and income profiles that support higher requirements.

How is Kissht acquiring higher-quality borrowers?

Kissht said it is targeting higher-income borrowers through app campaigns, Apple iOS acquisition and partnerships with customer aggregators. Management said a key campaign focuses on salaried and self-employed applicants earning more than Rs 1 lakh a month, with much of the opportunity concentrated in the top 30 centres.

The aggregator channel includes firms serving users of Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, payments, broking and wealth platforms. Management said it seeks customers with income above Rs 1 lakh a month across these channels, including mutual-fund investors and market participants. It also said the Apple app produces better customer quality than Android, and spending on that channel has risen over the past three to four quarters.

The targeted segment costs more to acquire. Kissht put blended customer acquisition cost, or CAC, at about Rs 850, compared with as much as Rs 1,200 for the higher-quality segment. Management said the additional Rs 350 to Rs 400 is offset by larger tickets and longer tenures, resulting in greater absolute income per customer, though it did not disclose customer-level profitability.

This sourcing approach helps explain why management links higher acquisition spending to portfolio growth rather than customer-count growth. A customer acquired at a higher CAC is expected to generate a larger and longer loan, but the source does not provide the share of disbursements or AUM originating from each sourcing channel.

What has changed in Kissht's borrower mix and loan quality?

Kissht said its borrower mix has shifted towards lower-leverage and higher-scoring customers. Loans to customers with bureau scores above 760 increased to 24.8% from 20.8%, while about 4% of loans went to customers with scores below 700.

The share of new loans to customers with three or more live loans fell more than 35% over the past 12 months and more than 7% quarter-on-quarter. Management contrasted this with industry data it cited showing retail-credit balances up 19% while borrower numbers grew by less than 9%, and said its own policy was to reduce lending to more leveraged borrowers.

Kissht also said exposure to consumers carrying gold loans had fallen to below 8% of the book after restrictions began 13 months earlier. Management said the curbs were tighter in the North than in the South, following its September 2025 identification of rising gold-loan exposure as a risk.

Reported asset-quality measures improved during the period. Credit cost fell to 6.2% of average AUM from 6.8% in the prior quarter and 9.3% a year earlier, while gross non-performing assets, or gross NPA, declined to 2.18%, down 7 basis points quarter-on-quarter and 75 basis points year-on-year. First equated monthly instalment, or EMI, 90-plus delinquency fell to 0.69% from 0.73% in the prior quarter and 1.16% a year earlier.

How do longer tenures affect Kissht's funding and returns?

Kissht said longer tenures support lower-priced loans for better customers, provided the company remains comfortable with loan economics and repayment risk. At an average tenure of 17.8 months, more loan balances remain outstanding, which management said is why AUM can grow faster than Rs 4,612 crore of quarterly disbursements.

The AUM base comprised Rs 4,199 crore on-book and Rs 5,118 crore off-book, a 45:55 split involving more than 45 lending partners. Capital adequacy was 34.76% in September 2026, versus 40.19% in the preceding quarter, as management said initial public offering capital was being deployed. On-book debt-to-equity was 0.94 times.

Management said it is passing part of lower funding and operating costs to borrowers through pricing while retaining sufficient benefit to support returns. Average cost of borrowing was 13.76%, while incremental borrowing in the second quarter was 12.1%. Finance cost fell 12% quarter-on-quarter despite higher borrowings, which management attributed to legacy debt rolling off.

Management said that, assuming no further benefit, the replacement of older debt could lower overall borrowing cost by at least 150 basis points over the next three to four quarters. It also cited potential rating changes as a further possibility, but this was management’s expectation rather than a confirmed development. The non-banking financial company subsidiary was rated A-/stable by CRISIL and India Ratings, and A/stable by Acuite.

What guidance has Kissht given after the September quarter?

Kissht raised FY27 AUM growth guidance to more than 60% from more than 40%, citing first-half momentum. Management retained its targets for return on average equity above 20% and gross NPA below 2.25%.

It also raised its impairment-cost outlook, saying it now expects a year-on-year reduction of more than 15%, compared with its earlier 10% to 15% range. This guidance is based on management’s expectations for lower risk cost, declining funding cost and operating leverage, rather than on a disclosed forecast of ticket size or tenure.

Total income increased 43% year-on-year to Rs 740 crore, while profit after tax doubled year-on-year to Rs 125 crore and rose 32% quarter-on-quarter. Pre-provision operating profit rose 40% year-on-year to Rs 287 crore. Income as a share of average AUM declined to 34.2% from 35.9% quarter-on-quarter, which management said reflected lower pricing for more creditworthy customers.

Conclusion

Kissht’s September 2026 results show that its faster AUM growth was tied to more borrowing per customer rather than customer additions alone. The company reported a Rs 43,380 average ticket, a 17.8-month average tenure and a rise in the share of loans to customers with bureau scores above 760 to 24.8%, alongside credit cost declining to 6.2% of average AUM.

The next disclosures to watch are whether average borrowing cost moves towards the 12.1% incremental borrowing rate over the next three to four quarters and whether impairment cost falls by more than 15% year-on-year as management targets. Management also expects interoperable account aggregators by December 2026, which it said could make consent-based underwriting faster and more precise.