Emerald Leasing Finance & Investment Company Ltd (BSE: 538882) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Jan. 08, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Sanjay Aggarwal — Managing Director
Gurmeet Kaur — Chief Risk Advisor
Talin Aggarwal — Head, Business Development
Analysts:
Samiksha Ramteke — Analyst
D.S. Inder — Individual Investor
Aayush Rathi — Analyst
Abhishek Arora — Analyst
Raj Saraf — Analyst
Gaurav — Analyst
Priyam Shah — Analyst
Rahil Shah — Analyst
Chirag Pachisia — Analyst
Sunil Patel — Individual Investor
Neeraj Kunjkaran — Analyst
Aditya Sanghani — Individual Investor
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed — Individual Investor
Jagdish Sharma — Individual Investor
Binoy Bhatt — Individual Investor
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Emerald Finance Limited Q3 FY ’25 Results Conference Call, hosted by Kirin Advisors Private Limited. [Operator Instructions]
I now hand the conference over to Ms. Samiksha Ramteke [Phonetic] from Kirin Advisors Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, Ms. Ramteke.
Samiksha Ramteke — Analyst
Thank you. On behalf of Kirin Advisors, I welcome you all to the conference call of Emerald Finance Limited. From management team, we have Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Managing Director; Ms. Gurmeet Kaur, Chief Risk Advisor; and Mr. Talin Aggarwal, Head, Business Development.
Now, I hand over the call to Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal sir. Over to you, sir.
Sanjay Aggarwal — Managing Director
Good afternoon. I warmly welcome all of you to Emerald Finance’s conference call for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2025. It’s honor to have your continued trust and support, which has enabled us to post decent results for the reported quarter. With me is Ms. Gurmeet Kaur, she is our Chief Risk Advisor; and Talin Aggarwal — my son, Talin Aggarwal, he is our Chief Business Development Officer.
Kindly allow me to take you through our financial performance and key business developments. On the financial front, during Q3 ’25, our consolidated total income has surged by 67.7% on Y-to-Y basis to INR5.74 crores. Our net profit has more than doubled to INR2.4 crores with the margin improving to 43.19%.
For the first nine months, our consolidated total income has risen by 16.11% on year-to-year basis to INR15.15 crores, and the consolidated net profit has also more than doubled, growing by almost 108% on a Y-to-Y basis to INR6.25 crores.
During this quarter, on a standalone basis, our total income has increased by 91% on a year-to-year basis. And additionally, our net profit has increased — growth of — grown by 123%. On a standalone basis, we have [Indecipherable] decent growth during the first nine months with the total income increasing by 64.5% [Phonetic] and net profit margin — profit growing by almost 80% to INR4.29 crores.
We have taken a couple of initiatives to strengthen our financial foundation during this quarter. Firstly, we have raised INR10 crores via preferential allotment. This shares — 10 lakh shares were issued of the face value of INR10 at INR90 premium. One of the major allottees was Minerva Ventures Fund, Mauritius — it’s a Mauritius-based FII, and also to Mr. Rajesh Jain, who was pioneer in setting up KPMG in Africa and India, and he was one of the founding fathers of Grant Thornton [Phonetic] in India.
On the — our main flagship program, Early Wage Access, we are on track for tying up with almost — more than 50 companies during this quarter — during this year. We have already tied up with 40 companies. In the last quarter, we tied up with one of the large shoe manufacturers of North India. They have got seven plants, and we have started operations in one of the plants, and we expect to start operations in the balance six plants shortly in the coming quarter. Plus, we have tied up with a very large insurance broker based out of Surat. We also started operations recently with them.
We also secured a credit rating from CRISIL, it’s BB+, stable, for our INR30 crores bank loan facility.
I’m glad to report that for the first nine months, we have zero NPAs during this period. Not even a single account has thrown into the NPA bucket.
I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of our employees for their dedication and to our partners for their collaboration, and most importantly, to our shareholders for their continued trust and support. Your confidence in us inspires us to strive for even greater achievements.
With my — both my colleagues, I now look forward to your questions and for insightful discussion and a few [Phonetic] suggestions from your side, please. Thank you, all.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of D.S. Inder [Phonetic], an individual investor. Please go ahead.
D.S. Inder
Sir, good afternoon, sir, and congratulations for posting very good numbers. I have a few questions, and my first question is regarding EWA program, sir. In last quarter, there was a guidance of 100 corporates. But this time, it has been revised to 60 by the end of FY ’25. Sir, why is it so? And is the adoption of EWA in corporate is not being adopted or getting slower due to other competitors? And still there has not been any big corporate added in the list like Tata or Mahindra.
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, businesses are — we’re not facing any difficulty from our competition. There’s hardly — tell you very frankly, there’s hardly any competition. There are only three or four players doing in this. But we are taking very prudent step, and we’re just scrutinizing properly all the corporates we are tying up with. Your numbers are increasing. Like, we have a target of INR2 crores per month by March. And in this very particular month, by 7th only, we have achieved, I think, INR60 lakhs plus business. And I think we should achieve that INR2 crore target shortly. As far as the number of corporates is concerned, 40 we have already tied up. And in fact, we are trying as hard as possible to increase the number of corporates. But I think realistically speaking, we should be able to touch 60 corporates by March.
D.S. Inder
Okay, sir. And are we optimistic or we have some plans to beat the target by the end of this financial year about 100 or…
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, we are targeting in the short — medium term, we are targeting 250 corporates. I think we should be able to achieve that by March ’26. But this year, I think by March ’25, we should be happy if we touch 60 corporate mark. But now the flow has started — incremental volume per corporate has also increased. As I said that we’ve already done INR70 lakhs by today, it’s like 8th, but we already achieved a disbursement of INR70 lakhs. But most of the disbursement happens after 15th because normally, the salaries come before 15th, and after 15th, employees normally withdraw from us. But this month, we’ve already seen a spurt, and we’ve already done about INR70 lakh plus disbursement. So, we are in line for what guidance we’re giving for INR2 crore disbursement by March — my monthly disbursement of INR2 crore by March, we should be able to achieve earlier than that.
D.S. Inder
Okay, sir. And sir, my second question is that we are targeting customers base to around five times. And looking into some loan kind of products, sir, other than EWA, and through, I think, invoice discounting, so is there any delinquency overview in there? Because it will be very different from EWA program.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Which one, which product you said?
D.S. Inder
Sir, I am telling about — I am asking about some loan kind of products, sir, which we have been told that a small ticket size loan will be given or any new product…
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gurmeet, would you like to take that?
D.S. Inder
And, sir, loan kind of product, sir. And is there any delinquencies overview in there? Because it will be very different from EWA.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gurmeet, would you like to take that?
Gurmeet Kaur
Yes, please. I hear two questions. One is that we were talking about launching small ticket size personal loans for the eligible EWA customers, that we will be launching towards the end of the first quarter. That is not launched as yet. And like you very rightly said, as for the question number two, that the delinquency could be slightly different. And yes, we understand the dynamics of EWA and small ticket personal loans are different. So, the eligibility criteria and the underwriting criteria for small ticket size personal loans will be definitely more stringent than the EWA customers and they will also be priced [Indecipherable]. Having said that, we have got our collections and operational — or operations organization, which is stable. We have tie-up for collections for both online and off-ground activities. So, we are in the business of taking risks. So, as per our plan and our policy, we would make sure that whatever policy, the underwriting policy, and verification strategies that we have done don’t lead us to this [Indecipherable].
D.S. Inder
Okay, ma’am. I’m having another two questions, but I will be in queue, sir. Thank you, ma’am.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Aayush Rathi with Aditya Birla Money. Please go ahead.
Aayush Rathi
Hi. Am I audible?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, you are, Aayush.
Aayush Rathi
Yes. So, sir, thanks for taking my questions, and congratulations on a great set of numbers. So, I’m relatively new to the Company, so please pardon me, sir, if in case, my questions seem to be repetitive or basic. So, I’m interested on the EWA side. So, what kind of growth can we expect from the EWA business over the next three years?
Sanjay Aggarwal
So, can you speak a little loudly? I can’t hear you properly.
Aayush Rathi
Okay. Am I audible now?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. It’s better.
Aayush Rathi
Yes. So, my first question was on EWA business. What kind of growth can we expect from the EWA business over the next three years?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Okay. See, what we are looking at, what we are internally targeting is INR2 crore disbursement — per month disbursement by March ’25 and INR15 crore disbursement by March ’26. I think this INR2 crore disbursement we should be able to reach a little earlier. We won’t have to, I think, wait for the month of March. And next year target is INR15 crore disbursement per month.
Aayush Rathi
Okay. On EWA only, so what kind of competitive advantage or moat do we have in this business? Like, given that this is currently at a nascent stage, so how large is the opportunity size for the whole opportunity of the product, EWA? And what kind of moat do we have?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Talin, would you like to take that?
Talin Aggarwal
Hi. So, again, in India, this is a very nascent product. So, it’s just getting started. As sir mentioned that there’s hardly any competition in the market. So, the challenge here that comes with this is that there’s a lack of awareness for the product in the market. So, as the time progresses, us and the competition together, as we onboard more corporates, the awareness of this spreads as well. So, that helps us in onboarding, and hence, expands our attainable market. And so, we’ve seen a great adoption by this — to whoever we pitch, we have a great conversion rate. And we just expect it to keep going as the time progresses.
Aayush Rathi
Okay. So what stops the — like if there’s a huge opportunity, so what stops the other players to come in into the business? Do we have any kind of moat in this business, which would protect us from [Indecipherable]?
Talin Aggarwal
So, the main moat that we would have that our competition doesn’t have is that we ourselves are the lending partners and we are the technology and distribution partner as well. The entire piece, from distribution to technology of lending, is us, whereas if you see our competition, all of them have partnered with lenders behind. So, technically, they are dependent on those lenders for funding. They themselves cannot fund the products since they’re not NBFCs. And again, the lending partners are then depending on these technology partners to provide the distribution of the technology since these NBSCs do not have the technological capabilities to power such a product. But in our case, it’s us doing the entire thing. So, we’ve essentially found a sweet spot between lending, compliance and technology distribution. I think that gives us a first-mover advantage into this market.
Aayush Rathi
Okay. fair enough.
Sanjay Aggarwal
And Aayush, it’s such a huge market. We’ve not even scratched the surface here. We have only four players right now in India market. If you look at US, Indonesia, Philippines, this product is growing at a very fast pace over there. And India is such a — I think it was $900 billion market, and we have not even scratched the surface right now. There’s a huge, huge opportunity waiting out over there.
Aayush Rathi
Got it. And…
Sanjay Aggarwal
I’ve experienced it — for the last six, seven months we’re doing is, it’s a fantastic business. We we are operating at a zero delinquency.
Aayush Rathi
Got it, sir. So, just on like the — a connecting question on this only. So, what is the strategy to increase the penetration of this product since the product is very nascent right now? So how do you strategize to penetrate in the market?
Talin Aggarwal
So, Aayush, we have a multi-pronged strategy here, so even today. So one, we have our own sales team deployed on the ground. Second, we have multiple partners who bring us these corporates, partners, people, again, who have met — contacts with high, high corporate networks. And third, we keep partnering with a couple of HRMS firms, HR firms, who again in turn know HRs of these respective corporates.
Aayush Rathi
All right.
Talin Aggarwal
So, the idea is to just keep expanding this sales network, and we’ll keep onboarding more corporates.
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, we recently held a function for Dera Bassi, which is industrial town near Chandigarh, where about almost 90 manufacturing units participated. We have plan to organize more of these kind of functions, gatherings. We’re planning something like similar stuff in Delhi also in next quarter. We got a very good response from there.
Aayush Rathi
[Speech Overlap] traction from there as well. All right.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Aayush Rathi
So, like I’ll just squeeze in my last question. So, regarding the 8 times to 10 times PAT growth guidance, so what gives us the confidence in achieving this, particularly from an execution standpoint? So, could you like share some of your thoughts on like 8 times to 10 times, if I’m not wrong, you have mentioned one of the con calls?
Sanjay Aggarwal
In the next year. See, for the last three quarters, we are almost growing at the rate of 100% on a year-on-year basis. And if you look at the 9% — nine months performance, EBITDA [Phonetic] ’24 performance, it’s almost 108% growth. I think we should be able to continue to grow.
Aayush Rathi
So, what has significantly changed in the Company that we are able to give such a big guidance? That’s my question actually. On ground, what has changed?
Talin Aggarwal
So, Aayush, if I might take that. So, I think the introduction of technology has really boosted our capabilities. So, earlier — as I mentioned earlier, all of our functions were manually given. But now we are moving to a completely technological base, where technology handles the bulk of our tasks, and that is increasing the operational efficiency as can be seen from net margins as well.
Aayush Rathi
All right. Sure. That’s all from my side, and congratulations, and all the best. Thanks a lot for answering all my questions.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Abhishek with AB Capital. Please go ahead.
Abhishek Arora
Hello, am I audible?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, Abhishek.
Abhishek Arora
Yes. Just wanted to know at what rate will you be growing the EWA book like in the next three years, if any [Phonetic] number you can give percentage-wise?
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, what we’re internally targeting is about INR2 crores per month by March this year and about INR15 crore plus/minus 10% per month by March ’26.
Abhishek Arora
Okay. So how much percentage of your entire book will be the EWA product, like, eventually you want it to become?
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, we’ll continue to grow our MSME and — as well as both of these. See, funding is not an issue with us. We have decent funding with us, and we can have a sufficient bank lines from State Bank. So, money will not be an issue and money should not be an issue with us.
Abhishek Arora
No, not money. I was asking like — my question was like out of your entire book, how much percentage will EWA product be going forward?
Gurmeet Kaur
Sanjay?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Gurmeet Kaur
Sorry. Sanjay, if you could just let him know out of the total business volume that we would be doing [Indecipherable].
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, we will continue to grow both the products. So I cannot put a percentage marks like that. So, honestly, our major focus is on EWA because the margins over here are very good, and as well as the ticket size is very small, and the risk factors involved are very low. So, major focus is on EWA program, but we’ll continue to grow our MSME and small personal ticket size loans simultaneously. So, it will be difficult for me to put percentage — targeting percentage on that as such.
Gurmeet Kaur
And can I just add one thing here in response? So there are two things that we need to look at. One is, what is the amount that we are going to be disbursing month-on-month towards a particular product, and which Sanjay clearly mentioned that we’re targeting going forward, disbursing, taking it to about INR15 crore from next year. You also have to keep this in mind that the second concept is asset on book, so end of a period, what is the total loan under management? You know your asset under management. Now, EWA, as a product, has the USP where whatever that you will disburse in a particular month will be deducted from the salary in the following month. So, EWA is more defined by the amount of disbursement that we will do because we end up collecting 100% the next month itself. So, it is more like a one-month loan. So, the asset under management on EWA practically is nil or is equal to only one month, whereas when it comes to loan, which is driven by equated monthly installments and has a term of anything between six months to 36 months, that will stay on your book, and it will run off once the loan duration is completed. Does it answer your question?
Abhishek Arora
Yes. Thank you.
Gurmeet Kaur
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Raj Saraf [Phonetic] with Finvestors. Please go ahead.
Raj Saraf
So, congratulations on the good set of numbers, sir. Sir, initially, we have targeted like 100 or more than 100 corporates to be added to the Emerald EWA program. This is two quarters back, sir. So, right now, we are targeting at 60. And by the opening statement or in some discussion on the question, sir, I just heard that we are targeting 250 corporates by the end of March FY ’26. So, this is 190 corporates in next year. So, are we being very much optimistic, sir? Or we have some very concrete plan about that, sir?
Talin Aggarwal
So, sir, if I might take that? So, it’s right. So, we do have a plan for that. So, again, our entire — so the last eight to nine months, we’ve spent strengthening our sales team, our sales network. Now, we’re confident we can say that, that entire thing is in place now. And now, we can actually push the accelerator and onboard close to 10 to 15 corporates a month at ease. And coming to the guidance we’ve given for this — till this financial year of ’25 of 60 corporates, so, we’ve actually focused more on the quality of corporates than the quantity. So, as sir mentioned, we are targeting to touch INR2 crores by March. So, that was our initial target with 100 corporates as well. So, we’ve seen that we have actually partnered with good level and good sort of corporates, and thereby, we are able to reach a monetary targets very well with even 60 corporates. So, that’s why we’ve been — so, that’s why we’ve pushed it. And as I mentioned, our sales network is in place now, so we can definitely push the accelerator for FY ’26.
Raj Saraf
Okay, sir. And, sir, one thing also, sir, this video presentation when I’m going through, I see we are trying to venture into something other — some other businesses like invoice discounting. So, what could be the yield percentage, sir, in this, and what could be the risk in this, sir?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gurmeet, would you like to take that?
Raj Saraf
Sir, invoice discounting, sir, your presentation mentioned that we are looking into some businesses like MSME loans and invoice discounting. So, what is the yield in this, sir, and the risk factor in this?
Sanjay Aggarwal
The yield is about 18%. Yes, Gurmeet?
Gurmeet Kaur
Yes, sure. The yield is about 18%. Risk, we will be coming back to you because we are evaluating the data of the partner with whom we would like to do the pilot partnership. And once we evaluate that particular data, we will get to know what is the probability of — what percentage of the portfolio, the payment by the merchant is getting delayed by how many days. And we will look at what percentage of that particular portfolio may be construed as it was by default, and accordingly, we’ll be setting what would be the default percentage. And similarly, like Sanjay said that average pricing could be 18%, depending upon what is the risk associated. We may also do a small risk-based pricing fundamental. So, it may be a range, which could be 18%, and it can go also up to about 21%.
Raj Saraf
Okay, ma’am. And we have started a small token loan, I think Q3 onwards only. So, have you started this? Or if we have started already, then what is the contribution to this — to the revenue and the profitability right now, ma’am?
Gurmeet Kaur
You’re talking about the small ticket size personal loan?
Raj Saraf
Yes, ma’am.
Gurmeet Kaur
I think we answered that we have not yet launched it. We plan to launch it towards the end of Q4 now.
Raj Saraf
Okay, ma’am. And right now, what is the run rate for EWA, ma’am, right? Because the two quarters back, in June, I think the run rate was INR1 crore per month. So what is right now the run rate?
Sanjay Aggarwal
INR1.5 crores right now. Outstanding as of now is INR1.5 crores.
Raj Saraf
Okay. And we are targeting to end this financial year by INR2 crore — with INR2 crore?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. I think we should be able to see that next month only. If all goes well, by Feb only, we should be able to touch that goal. As I said, we’ve already done INR70 lakhs till now in this month.
Raj Saraf
Okay. And are we standing by the — sorry? Yes, sir. Please complete.
Sanjay Aggarwal
No, you please go ahead.
Raj Saraf
Yes, sir. Just asking about the run rate only. Sir, if you can give some details about that, that’s okay, sir. Please complete your sentence.
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, about INR70 lakhs, we’ve already done in the first eight days. This is low period, where till 1st to 15th, withdrawals will be on the lower side, and withdrawals increase after 15th. But in this month, we’ve already seen substantial withdrawals in the first eight days only.
Raj Saraf
Okay, sir. And sir, are we standing by our guidance that is for three years — in next three years, PAT at 8 times to 10 times?
Sanjay Aggarwal
I think so. See, if you look at our past history for the last nine months, we have given 100% growth on year-on-year basis in every quarter. We should be able to achieve that.
Raj Saraf
Yes. Thank you very much for giving me opportunity, sir. And I congratulate once again for the great set of numbers, sir. Thank you very much.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Gaurav with Code Advisors. Please go ahead.
Gaurav
Thank you so much for taking time, and congratulations for a great set of numbers. My first question is, what is the breakup of the total income? How much of that comes from the EWA segment versus the non-EWA segment? And what is that projected for the end of this year?
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, as for the first nine months, our distribution income is right now almost 50% and MSME loans is 48% and EWA is 2%. But I think going forward, EWA will increase at a much higher rate. But for the first nine months, 50% is from a distribution fee income from distribution business, 48% is the interest income from MSME business, and about 2% is from EWA.
Gaurav
Got it. The second question that I had is, so you mentioned that you’re going to be touching about INR15 crores in revenue over the next year…
Sanjay Aggarwal
We will finish with monthly disbursement.
Gaurav
And I think — yes, the way the disbursement works that it’s a percentage fee of the total loans, so let’s say, about 1.5% [Phonetic], or maybe 20% annually. So would it be fair to assume that, that would be a INR3 crore revenue on an annual basis if you touch INR15 crore disbursements on a monthly basis?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Gaurav
Got it. And then, so the 8 times to 10 times growth, is that considered only for the EWA segment or that’s for the business as a whole?
Sanjay Aggarwal
No, we are counting [Indecipherable] business as a whole, not for one particular segment. So the MSME book and the distribution income is also increasing.
Gaurav
Got it. Can you give…
Sanjay Aggarwal
[Speech Overlap] with new partners also for distribution business also. We recently got tied up with Avanse. We have got the corporate DSA-ship for doing loans for schools.
Gaurav
Understood. Got it. That answers my question. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Priyam Shah with Trinetra Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Priyam Shah
Hi, sir.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Hi, Priyam.
Priyam Shah
Sir, as we scale up EWA, will we lean more towards bank funding? Or are we looking to dilute more at some point? And also, what will be the cost of our funds approximately?
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, we have got limits from State Bank at 10.95%. And we’ll continue to explore all the fronts. What is the most optimal, we’ll do that.
Priyam Shah
All right. And, sir, the second question is that on our legacy business, especially the MSME funding, we’ve had zero NPAs for several quarters now. But it is going through a slightly rough cycle [Indecipherable] have been reporting NPAs. So, can we just speak about our risk management practices for a minute? What is it that we could distinctly that has ensured zero NPAs and how scalable that is?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gurmeet, would you like to take that?
Gurmeet Kaur
Yes, Sanjay, sure. So, at this particular time, we kind of pay critical attention to what are the channels through which we acquire this particular business or acquire a customer. So, currently, we’ve kept those particular channels fairly limited, looking at what is the size of book that we would like to create this year. So given that our initial selection criteria, the eligibility criteria at the [Indecipherable] for the MSME and the SME, coupled with our underwriting — detailed underwriting practices and a personal meeting with the customer as well has ensured that our delinquencies — there is no NPA.
Now, when we talk about there’s no NPA, which also talks about our robust collection practices and follow-up, more than 95% of our customers end up paying us on the [Indecipherable]. For the remaining 5%, we end up getting the payment with a maximum delay of about [Indecipherable]. So currently, given the number — the target numbers that we plan to achieve for this year, and coupled with strong screening at the incoming size, coupled with good underwriting and then robust collection practices, we’ll ensure that the NPA — we don’t get an NPA.
Priyam Shah
So there is INR10 lakhs? Or is that — is it more, or is it less for the MSME?
Gurmeet Kaur
Sanjay, what is our average ticket size for this particular quarter?
Sanjay Aggarwal
INR35 lakhs, yes.
Gurmeet Kaur
So, it is not actually an MSME. So we are actually looking at more about it more — of an SME.
Priyam Shah
Right. Got it. Yes. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Rahil Shah with Crown Capital. Please go ahead.
Rahil Shah
Hello, hi. Can you hear me?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Rahil Shah
Yes. Hi, sir. So, first question is, I believe in the last call, which was a webinar, you had mentioned that out of 34 corporates, 25 were active and nine should have been up by Jan. So what’s the status now? Are they all active?
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, as of date, if I can get — as of 31st December, we are tied up with 40 corporates, and 31 are active.
Rahil Shah
Okay.
Sanjay Aggarwal
And the balance nine should start. And another for like — we’re targeting 20 more corporates by March end. I think we should be able to achieve that target.
Rahil Shah
No, but what’s the situation with those nine, which are inactive? Like what is…
Sanjay Aggarwal
They’re at different levels of integration now.
Rahil Shah
Okay. So can we expect them to be active by the year-end as well? Or…
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. I think, hopefully — Talin, I think they should start by this month only, balance nine, or no?
Talin Aggarwal
Yes, of course. So they’re just completing the onboarding formalities, and they should be live by the month of the — end of this month.
Rahil Shah
Right. Okay. And you had also mentioned that major chunk of the income ahead will come from this EWA vertical and the split will change in its favor. So what will be the percentage of total income going ahead, if you can give a…
Sanjay Aggarwal
Percentage of total income?
Rahil Shah
Total income. Like, how much from — how much will it be from the EWA vertical?
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, our target, as I mentioned earlier, is to achieve INR2 crores per month by March, and by next year, INR15 crores per month by March ’26. So — plus there’s a lot of cross-selling income, which will come from sourcing this business. We are already seeing the benefits of the cross-selling.
Rahil Shah
No, that I understand. You mentioned it is 2% of the total income right now, right?
Sanjay Aggarwal
2% of INR15 crores per month.
Rahil Shah
Of just INR15 crores.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Rahil Shah
Okay.
Sanjay Aggarwal
So average revenue is anywhere between 1.5% to 2% from disbursement of EWA loan.
Rahil Shah
Okay. And lastly, again, in the last webinar call, you had mentioned the MSME loan book at that time was INR55 crores. What is it as of today? And what kind of growth rate one should expect going ahead?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Today, I think, it’s about INR63 crores.
Rahil Shah
INR63 crores?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. INR63 crores, yes.
Rahil Shah
And, yes, any outlook or guidance on that going ahead, what kind of growth…
Sanjay Aggarwal
That is growing. That’s an organic — going on organic — going good organically. [Speech Overlap] We are not taking an undue — given the market scenario, we’re not taking any undue risk. Prudently, we are scrutinizing all the cases. [Foreign Speech] We don’t want to take that route.
Rahil Shah
Okay. So you’re going like steadily on that, not too aggressive?
Sanjay Aggarwal
[Foreign Speech] But we don’t want to do that, take undue risks.
Rahil Shah
Fair enough, sir. Thank you, and all the best.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Chirag Pachisia with SKP Securities. Please go ahead.
Chirag Pachisia
First of all, congratulations, sir, for the fantastic set of numbers.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Hi, Chirag.
Chirag Pachisia
Hello.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, Chirag.
Chirag Pachisia
So, my question is, since it’s mentioned in the PPT that EWA margins are 18% to 30%, it’s not the interest, but service fee, right?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Chirag Pachisia
So what can they like…
Sanjay Aggarwal
Come again?
Chirag Pachisia
How much margin can be expected to be like once they’re steady, like can it become 25%?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gurmeet, would you like to take that?
Gurmeet Kaur
Sorry, can you please repeat your question?
Chirag Pachisia
My question is, I know it’s hard to pinpoint, but since it’s mentioned, EWA margins are 18% to 30%, right?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Okay. Yes.
Chirag Pachisia
So, on a steady basis, say, in like one year or two years or so, can it become — like how much can we expect those margins to be?
Talin Aggarwal
We will try to normalize it at roughly 24% p.a.
Chirag Pachisia
Okay, 24%?
Talin Aggarwal
Yes.
Chirag Pachisia
Okay. Thank you so much.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you, Chirag.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sunil Patel, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Sunil Patel
Congratulations for the strong quarter, sir.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you, Mr. Patel.
Sunil Patel
I just want to know the interest spread rate for MSME loans, and I have some doubt about EWA. Is there any correlation between the growth of EWA and economy slowdown?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Come again? See, margin lending on an average rate of MSME is about 18%.
Sunil Patel
No, I just want to talk spread, interest rate spread for MSME.
Sanjay Aggarwal
7%. We get bank funding at 10.95%.
Sunil Patel
Okay. And is there any correlation between EWA growth and economic slowdown?
Sanjay Aggarwal
I don’t think — there shouldn’t be any correlation. Yes, Gurmeet?
Gurmeet Kaur
We are asking for the correlation between what?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Economic slowdown and EWA expansion growth.
Gurmeet Kaur
I doubt it because at this particular point of time, when you talk about an economic slowdown, it will — it depends upon what kind of sectors are you targeting. So if you look at the kind of sectors that we would like to kind of partner with are the companies who have got employees which are more than a certain number, they have been existing in business for a certain number of years. They are contributing to the provident fund. They had been year-on-year having stable and successful. They are profit-making organization. So, it again depends upon what is going to be our target employer. So, we don’t see that particular slowdown impacting based on the business strategy or the acquisition strategy that we have set.
Sunil Patel
Thank you. That is from my side.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. It’s a huge market, huge potential. We’ve not even scratched the surface. India, nobody even scratched the surface. It’s a many billion-dollar market. Thank you.
Operator
Mr. Patel, are you done with your questions?
Sunil Patel
Yes.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Neeraj Kunjkaran [Phonetic] with Sarti [Phonetic]. Please go ahead.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Hello. Very enthused by your performance in Q3. I have some basic questions if you could help me understand this EWA product. And my questions are addressed to the CFO, please.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Hello?
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Hello.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. Gurmeet, would you like to take that? Can you repeat the questions please?
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Yes. So, we did roughly INR5.7 crores worth of business in the Q3, and out of this, how much is our realization from EWA? That is my first question.
Sanjay Aggarwal
See, of the total revenue for the first nine months, 48% is from MSME book, 50% is what from fee income from our distribution business and 2% is from EWA for the first nine months.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Perfect. So is it been increasing from quarter one to quarter two to quarter three? And hence, what have we achieved in quarter three, as a percentage as you just told me?
Sanjay Aggarwal
EWA business is increasing now. EWA business is increasing on quarter-on-quarter basis. And what we expect going forward also the percentage of EWA…
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Could you give me a sense of the increase? Because that is where my question is — that is what my question is addressed to. Could you give me a sense as to how we are increasing our EWA product from Q1, Q2, Q3? Just a sense. Nothing — I’m not looking at hard numbers. Just a sense, please.
Sanjay Aggarwal
So, we are increasing the number of corporates and — plus, one, we’re adding number of corporates. Number two, we’re also increasing the penetration in the particular corporate. We have set up a three-member telecalling team also, where directly calling the employees.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
How many people on telecalling, please?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Three people. As of the date, three people. Yes, but we’ll be increasing going forward, including that team also.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Okay. So, I’m still wanting in my understanding over there. But I will pass this and I just hope someone — I can connect with someone and clarify my mind on this. My second question is, you said that in the current month, with just eight days, you have done INR70 lakhs of EWA disbursement. That is what you said, sir?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Correct.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
And you aim that we will hit a monthly run rate of INR2 crores by, what you call, March of ’25. We want to be consistently disbursing INR2 crores every month by March of ’25. That is what you alluded, sir?
Sanjay Aggarwal
No. Our target is INR2 crores by March ’25, but we’ll keep those [Phonetic] increasing that because next year target is INR14 crores.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Perfect. Now the question is, sir — now the question is, how do I understand this as an investor? So let me put it this way. Can I assume that INR2 crores is equal to 100-odd disbursements of an average loan of around INR20,000? Can I assume that?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, average ticket — Talin, average ticket is about INR18,000, INR20,000?
Talin Aggarwal
INR20,000, right.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Yes. So I’m looking at a ballpark understanding. So that’s what I’m trying to develop. Please help me out over there. So when we look at INR2 crores, I can break it down on an average to 20 — 100 disbursements of INR20,000 each to the subscribe [Phonetic].
Talin Aggarwal
Sorry, 1,000 transactions, not 100.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Okay, 1,000 transactions?
Talin Aggarwal
Yes.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Thanks for correcting me over there. Yes. And on INR20,000, we get around to INR1.5 crores to INR2.5 crores. So roughly, let me estimate that to be around INR500 as transaction fees that you charge, and that into number of disbursements gives me a INR5 lakh run rate from EWA on a monthly basis. Is my understanding correct, sir?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. About 1.5%, 2%, yes.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Thank you very much, sir. So this is one of the issues that I wanted to get cleared. I’m very thankful for your response. Regarding the first part, when I asked you as to the growth rate from Q1 to Q2 to Q3, how do we take this forward? Because I’m not getting a sense. So, I get the thing that you are pushing the number of corporates and you have reached 40 corporates, and you are wanting to get 60 corporates by end of this financial year and a particular amount you just mentioned some time ago by end of the next financial year. That is very good, sir. And you’re putting up a sales team, telephone caller, team. Everything is going hunky dory, sir. But how effective have we been in the first Q3 is the sense which I wanted to get.
Sanjay Aggarwal
How effective we have been in the — come again?
Neeraj Kunjkaran
In the growth.
Gurmeet Kaur
Sanjay, just a moment. So what is the Q1 disbursal? So, Talin, if you can just tell him what is the Q1 disbursal, Q2 disbursal, and now the Q3 disbursal? Right?
Talin Aggarwal
Right. So we…
Gurmeet Kaur
That is the growth trajectory.
Talin Aggarwal
Perhaps you can connect later because I have to run all these numbers from the system once so we can see the entire disbursement sheet. But I’ll have to break it quarter-wise and present it at a later date, is that to be fine? But on a month-on-month growth, we are seeing close to 12% to 13% growth on a monthly basis in amount of disbursements. And that’s been the trend ever since we did the launch in April last year.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
That’s a wonderful response. Can I make a small suggestion, please?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, sure.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
This is a parameter which people like me who have tremendous interest in the Company would want to monitor. So, can it come up in some form in the presentations?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, definitely. Why not?
Neeraj Kunjkaran
Because if this comes, a lot of questions from people like me, they get answered in the presentation itself.
Sanjay Aggarwal
You want month-on-month growth. You want to see month on growth…
Neeraj Kunjkaran
So month-on-month, how EWA is growing in terms of disbursements and in transactions would be a great help as part of the presentation, sir.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, sure, definitely.
Neeraj Kunjkaran
I thank the management for the response. My best wishes to you, please.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you. Thank you so much. Talin, just put it on month-on-month increase in business.
Talin Aggarwal
Sure, I’ll get the team on it.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Aditya Sanghani [Phonetic], an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Aditya Sanghani
Yes, hi. Am I audible?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, Mr. Sanghani.
Aditya Sanghani
Yes. So good afternoon, and congratulations on the great set of numbers. My question is about this new personal loan product. Like it opens significant upselling opportunity, right? So is there any guidance in terms of revenue or PAT for this personal loan product in mind?
Talin Aggarwal
We haven’t actually launched it. So, as ma’am mentioned earlier, we haven’t launched it yet. So, I think we’re just running a few metrics based on risk and return. And, once everything is in place, then we’ll be looking to launch it maybe by the end of this quarter or perhaps the next quarter. I think then we’ll be in a better position to answer your question.
Aditya Sanghani
Okay. And secondly, I wanted to ask on that gift card announcement that was like we have a gift card for Amazon and other things. So, are the margins similar in that? Or is there some difference?
Talin Aggarwal
Margins are more or less similar. So in EWA we make 1.5%, 2%. There we make 2.5%, 3% roughly.
Aditya Sanghani
Okay. And is it a significant contributor to the — in terms of sales, that gift card thing?
Talin Aggarwal
So we’re seeing some engagement there. We haven’t been pushing it aggressively, but we’ll begin to — in some time. We’ve just been focusing on business expansion with the number of corporate increasing.
Aditya Sanghani
Okay. Yes. Thank you for the opportunity, and all the best.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed [Phonetic], an individual investor. Please go ahead, sir. Mr. Ahmed, please go ahead with your question. Mr. Ahmed, if you have muted your line, please unmute yourself and go ahead with your question.
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed
Hello. Am I audible now?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, Mr. Ahmed. Yes.
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed
Sir, just, I would like to congratulate, first of all, for very good numbers. And my question is, you told that from next year onwards, every month, you are going to make around INR15 crores disbursement in this Early Wages system, correct?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Not immediately from next — see, what we’re targeting is March ’26. By March, end of the year, we plan to reach a target of INR15 crore disbursement per month.
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed
By end of the March ’26, that gradually it will be increasing.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. It’s like from INR2 crores to INR15 crore, it’ll not jump in one month. But gradually, we plan to reach INR15 crore and will be huge — 15 multiplied by 12, it’s — for next year, [Indecipherable] about INR180 crore of disbursement.
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed
And what kind of PAT we are expecting with this INR15 crores per month disbursement by March ’26 [Phonetic]?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. PAT is, for INR15 crore disbursement, of 1.5% — anywhere between 1.5% to 2%, plus the revenue from cross-selling opportunities.
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed
Okay. Sir, one more thing, in — when you — in your business, when you are calculating as revenue that whatever the disbursement — in the revenue part — in the profit and loss statement, the revenue part here means you are calculating the disbursement — whatever we are doing, does it go as a revenue there?
Sanjay Aggarwal
No. The income we earn. Processing fee that we charge from the client, that comes into the revenue, not the disbursement amount.
Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmed
Okay, sir. Thank you very much.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you, Mr. Ahmed.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes to the line of Jagdish Sharma [Phonetic], an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Jagdish Sharma
Hi, sir. Thanks for giving me this opportunity, and congratulations for wonderful set of numbers. I have two questions. Both are related. The first one is, what is the TAM of this early access program? If I am — if my understanding is right, it is $1 billion, right?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Come again. I can’t hear you properly, please. Can you repeat the question?
Jagdish Sharma
What is the total addressable market for this early access program, Early Wage Access program? It is $1 billion, right?
Sanjay Aggarwal
No, it’s much more than that. Talin, what is the exact number?
Talin Aggarwal
It is much more than $1 billion. The salary market of India is close to about INR90 lakh crores per annum in INR.
Jagdish Sharma
Okay.
Talin Aggarwal
So again, the total addressable would be that much, again. But again — so we’re not — yes, that’s the total salary market of India. And again, our target — so that’s total addressable market. But the addressable market we are targeting in the next three years would be to touch close to about INR40 crores to INR50 crores in monthly disbursement, which will roughly be close to almost INR600 crores per annum then.
Jagdish Sharma
Correct. So my second question was, if this…
Sanjay Aggarwal
[Speech Overlap] coming next two to three years.
Jagdish Sharma
Two to three year, yes, understood. My second question was…
Sanjay Aggarwal
[Speech Overlap] it’s a huge market. Look, this is a huge market. And what we have seen in the last nine months, it’s almost risk-free. Nobody would like to default on his — no employer would like to default on his employee salary.
Jagdish Sharma
Correct. So my second question was if this product has zero NPA — if this product has zero NPA as a business model, why are we venturing into another businesses where we can incur some NPA? That is my second question.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gurmeet, would you like to take that?
Gurmeet Kaur
Yes. We are in the lending business, and if you have to — and we are also in the risk-taking business. So if you do not take risk, you do not get more — you do not get greater returns. How do you keep the employee engaged if you are not able to offer them more products that they can use at different milestones in their life? So while the Early Wage Access can give them an access to their own salary early to guide over an immediate emergency or a requirement, what happens if this particular guy needs, let’s say, INR100,000 for his house renovation or to pay for his children’s original [Phonetic] fee? So then, we are saying that the same customer is now going to go out, and he will seek this particular amount from another bank where there is going to be the underwriting criteria, the rate of interest, and I may end up losing that opportunity to earn from this customer who has already been tested by me.
Jagdish Sharma
Okay. So my question — and the second part of this question, same question is if you are giving this cross-sell — or if you’re cross-selling the other products to the same early wage programs and all this thing, will the employee incur the interest or the employer will incur the interest? That is my part of — part B of the same question.
Gurmeet Kaur
As an EWA product, so EWA product is a nil-interest product but we charge a disbursement fee from the employee. This is a loan or a facility which is being taken by the employee, and the store will be the personal loan. The repayment of that particular monthly installment would be done by the employer by deducting it from the employee’s salary. So, we are talking about a repayment mode, which safeguards us from a higher operational risk.
Jagdish Sharma
Correct. No, my question is, you’re cross-selling few of the new products, right? That is — I’m asking who will repay the amount, whether it’s the employee or employer, process across any personal loans and everything, which you are about to do?
Gurmeet Kaur
It will be borne by the employee, right? The loan is being taken by the employee. So the repayment…
Jagdish Sharma
Correct. But who will repay? Whether it is similar to our early wage access program, that is my question.
Gurmeet Kaur
It will be similar to our Early Wage Access, where the employer would be — employee will consent for the employer to deduct the monthly installment from his salary and give it to him.
Jagdish Sharma
Okay, fine. What is the interest rate for the Early Wage Access program now, which we are charging?
Gurmeet Kaur
Talin, what is the interest rate range that we are charging for EWA?
Talin Aggarwal
We do not charge any interest, right? We only charge a processing fee ranging 1.5% to 2%.
Jagdish Sharma
Okay. Fine. Thanks, ma’am, and all the very best for the coming quarters and year.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Binoy Bhatt [Phonetic], an individual investor, please go ahead.
Binoy Bhatt
Hello, sir. Nice set of numbers.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you, Mr. Bhatt.
Binoy Bhatt
Sir, just wanted to ask you, fee-based income has increased a lot this time. So it is because of the gold loan? Or what was that which gave that much fee-based income growth?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Sir, distribution business is also growing.
Binoy Bhatt
Right. So, that…
Sanjay Aggarwal
We are partnering with one more bank [Indecipherable] for gold loans. And existing fee income is also…
Binoy Bhatt
Main because of the gold loans, right, sir?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Gold loans — we’re doing housing loans, home loans, unsecured loans also. It’s a mix of all.
Binoy Bhatt
It’s a mix of all.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes.
Binoy Bhatt
And sir, do you expect this kind of growth in this business also? Because what was my understanding is that people — retail people are in stress. So they have started taking more gold loan. That was my understanding. I could be wrong also. So, what kind of growth should we expect in this business?
Sanjay Aggarwal
It not really that. See, overall business is growing as such.
Binoy Bhatt
So, you are expecting similar growth in this area also?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes. I think this new — two new partnership adds should — again add to the top line as well as the bottom line. They should fortify — I think from Feb onwards, we’ll just start fortifying both these new partnerships.
Binoy Bhatt
Okay. So, that will also add-on?
Sanjay Aggarwal
Add-on, yes, because Because for Avanse, we’ve got corporate DSA. In India, I think, there were just only three or four corporate DSAs.
Binoy Bhatt
Okay. So, that’s — they have a scope to grow.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Yes, they should be. Yes.
Binoy Bhatt
Okay, sir. The second thing I want to ask Talin, [Foreign Speech] product-wise, how much is API integration and everything?
Talin Aggarwal
The entire EWA itself is automated, through and through. The entire onboarding journey to disbursement or to repayment reconciliation, the entire thing is automated.
Binoy Bhatt
The majority of [Foreign Speech]?
Talin Aggarwal
Yes. [Foreign Speech] All of these are API-driven. In fact, the disbursement is completely API-driven. So, if anyone even makes a withdrawal request at 2 A.M. outside the banking hours, the request will be processed immediately.
Binoy Bhatt
[Foreign Speech] Like how much time it takes to integrate a new client?
Talin Aggarwal
It depends from vendor to vendor. But on average, it takes about a week.
Binoy Bhatt
Okay. It’ll take about a week, and that part is manual. But once that is done, so then everything is automated through the API I think.
Talin Aggarwal
Yes, absolutely.
Binoy Bhatt
Superb. I think this thing is going great. And just one more question, this coupon thing, so what kind of growth you are expecting because of this? And I think you say that you are not focusing much right now, but can you throw some light on that area?
Talin Aggarwal
Also, we actually expect that by the end of next financial year, the coupon could be close to 15% to 20% of our overall disbursements in EWA.
Binoy Bhatt
Okay. 15% to 20%?
Talin Aggarwal
Yes, it can be more, but this is what we’re expecting, given our target audience and their use case of EWA. So, we’re expecting about 15% to 20% share should be gift cards and vouchers.
Binoy Bhatt
That is superb. Okay, thank you so much. I’m done. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of D.S. Inder an Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
D.S. Inder
Thank you sir for giving me opportunity once again. And my all questions have been answered, sir. And once again, congratulations for good numbers, and best wishes. Thank you very much.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you. Due to time constraints, we have reached the end of question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Samiksha Ramteke for closing comments.
Samiksha Ramteke
Thank you, everyone, for joining the conference call of Emerald Finance Limited. If you have any queries, you can write to us info@kirinadvisors.com [Phonetic]. Once again, thank you for joining.
Operator
Thank you.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Thank you very much, everyone.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]