The lender had earlier filed for an IPO worth nearly ₹1,000 crore in October 2021, which included ₹800 crore of primary issuance and a ₹200 crore offer-for-sale from existing investors. However, the filing lapsed as it was not completed within a year.
“We focused on improving our balance sheet, asset quality and expanding operations, before applying for IPO,” said Paul in an interview. “In the last three months, we have been able to sell unsecured non-performing loans and clean our books. We will be filing for an IPO with the capital market regulator after announcing the March quarter result in May.”
ESAF has been focusing on cleaning up its books before the IPO when the gross non-performing loans stood at 7% at the end of December. However, the small finance bank has since sold a large chunk of ₹1,075 crore to Phoenix ARC in two tranches. As a result, the gross NPA now stands at around 2.5%, according to a source.
Despite the challenges, the lender is optimistic about its future growth prospects. ESAF has a loan book of ₹14,118 crore and is expecting a year-on-year growth rate of 25-30%.
With the decision to refile the IPO, ESAF seeks to raise money to grow the business.
