SMC Global Securities Limited (NSE: SMCGLOBAL) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Jan. 30, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Subhash Chand Aggarwal — Chairman and Managing Director
Shruti Aggarwal — Whole-Time Director
Himanshu Gupta — Director and CEO
Mahesh C. Gupta — Vice Chairman and Managing Director
Analysts:
Rasika Sawant — Moderator
Rajesh — Analyst
Saumya — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to SMC Global Securities Limited Q3 and 9M FY ’25 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. [Operator Instructions].
I’ll now hand the conference over to Ms. Rasika Sawant from X-B4 Advisory. Thank you, and over to you, Ms. Sawant.
Rasika Sawant — Moderator
Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Q3 FY ’25 earnings conference call. Today on this call, we have Mr. Subhash Chand Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Group; Mr. Mahesh C. Gupta, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Group; Dr. D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Capital; Mr. Ajay Garg, Director and CEO of SMC Global Securities Limited; Mr. Anurag Bansal, Whole-Time Director of SMC Global Securities; Mr. Himanshu Gupta, Director and CEO of Moneywise Financial Services Private Limited; Ms. Shruti Aggarwal, Whole-Time Director of SMC Global Securities Limited; and Mr. Pranay Aggarwal, Director and CEO of StoxKart. Due to an unforeseen family emergency, Mr. Vinod Kumar Jamar, President and Group CFO, is unable to join today’s conference call.
This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on beliefs, opinions and expectations as of today, actual results may differ. The statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. A detailed Safe Harbor statement is given on the second page of earnings presentation of the company, which has been uploaded on the stock exchange and the company’s website as well.
With this, I now hand over the call to Mr. Subhash Aggarwal for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Subhash Chand Aggarwal — Chairman and Managing Director
Thank you, Rasika Sawant. Good evening and a warm welcome to all the participants. I hope all of you got an opportunity to go through our financial results and earnings presentations, which have been uploaded on the Stock Exchanges as well as on the company’s website. Before we dive into our financial performance, let me take you through the key developments in the industry and our perspective on the evolving landscape. Industry outlook, the booking and financial services industry witnessed several significant developments in the last quarter, driven by regulatory changes and sustained market dynamics. India’s capital markets are witnessing strong growth, driven by increasing retail participation and regulatory changes aimed at improving transparency and investor confidence.
Recent updates such as standardized exchange fees have made post more predictable for investors. While these changes have impacted certain revenue streams for brokers, they ensure a more stable and trustworthy market in the long run. SEBI’s continued focus on market strategy and investor protection led to key regulatory reforms. One of the most impactful changes was the tightening of trading norms in the derivative market. As a result, December 2024 saw a 38% decline in derivative trading moving from BSE and NSE. While these measures aim to curb excessive speculation, they have posed near-term challenges for brokers and traders alike. However, we believe these changes will contribute to a more stable and transparent market in the long-run.
The last announced union budget introduced several growth centric initiatives for NBFCs and fintech firms with an emphasis on financial inclusion, digital expansion and credit accessibility. These measures align with — well with our focus on enhancing digital financial services and expanding our reach to underserved markets. In response to these industry shifts, SMC Global has taken proactive steps to adapt to changing market conditions. Our focus remains on offering competitive pricing, strengthening our technology platform and enhancing client experience to maintain long-term growth.
The phased introduction of new regulations in the derivative segments has led to temporary shifts in trading patterns. But as seen in the past, investors adapt quickly leading to market stability and renewed growth. We remain committed to expanding our product offerings, deepening client relationships and leveraging our industry expertise to drive sustainable business growth. With a strong foundation and a client for support, SMC Global is well positioned to navigate the changing landscape and create lasting value for all stakeholders.
Company highlights. Now, let me take you through SMC Global Securities highlights. We have delivered a steady growth across two business segments. Despite regular headwinds, our broking, distribution and trading and financing business have continued to perform well, contributing positively to our financial performance. In this quarter, our overall revenue increased by 6.5% year-on-year basis to INR455.5 crore, while our nine months financial ’25 revenue grew up by 20% YoY basis to INR1,354.3 crores. Our extensive network of 2,270 APs approved 437 client — cities reinforces our strong presence.
In financial distributions, our financial distributors stand at 6,850 and our mutual fund AUM now stands at INR4,347 crores. In our NBFC segment, the AUM has grown to INR1,285.8 crores, marking a 20.9% YoY increase compared to nine months financial year ’24. The company operates 40 branches across 10 states and 32 major cities strengthening our lending footprint. In the insurance broking business, we remain focused on expanding our market presence despite a revenue dip in this quarter. SMC Insurance continue to operate through several branches nationwide, leveraging a vast network of 15,959 points of sales and engaging with 343 motor insurance service providers.
Despite regulatory changes impacting certain segments, our diversified business model, continued network expansion and investment in technology position us well for sustained long-term growth.
Now, I hand over to Ms. Shruti Aggarwal, Whole-Time Director, SMC Global Securities Limited, to take you through the financial accomplishment for quarter three financial ’25. Over to you Ms. Shruti.
Shruti Aggarwal — Whole-Time Director
Thank you, Subhash Ji, and good evening everyone. Talking about financial performance for Q3FY25 of our company, on a consolidated basis, the operating income for the quarter was INR455.5 crores, which grew by 6.5% year-on-year basis. Operating EBITDA was reported as at approximately INR111.8 crores and the EBITDA margin stood at around 24.5%. Net profit after tax reported was INR43.9 crore while the PAT margin stood at 9.6%.
For nine months FY25, the operating income stood at INR1,354.3 crore, which grew by 20% year-on-year basis. Operating EBITDA was reported at approximately INR355.4 crores, an increase of approximately 24.3% year-on-year basis and EBITDA margin stood at 26.2%. Net profit after tax was reported at approximately INR142.7 crore, while the PAT margin stood at about 10.5% approximately.
Let me now take you through quarterly segmental performance on a consolidated basis. In the broking, distribution and trading segment, the Q3 revenue stood at about INR244.4 crores, which grew by 2.3% on year-on-year basis. Number of branches increased to 205 as on 31st December, 2024.
Coming to the financing division, revenue for Q3 was around INR71.2 crores, which grew by 33.8% on year-on-year basis and EBIT for Q3 was around INR49.3 crores, which grew by 45% year-on-year basis. Our loan AUM increased to INR1,285.8 crores, an increase of 20.9% year-on-year basis. The gross NPA net NPA was at 2.27% and 1.16% respectively. Lastly, in the insurance broking vertical, revenue for Q3 stood at about INR148.2 crores and EBIT stood at about INR2.5 crores.
With this, the floor is open for the Q&A session. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Rajesh, an Individual Investor. Please go-ahead.
Rajesh
Hello, can you hear me? Hello, sir.
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
Yes, we can hear you, Rajesh.
Rajesh
Yes. My question is on the NBFC segment. So what I could see is the AUM has not grown in the past three quarters or so, that is a question — and how do we expect the AUM to grow in the next few quarters? That’s question number one.
Question number two is also on the leverage ratio. The leverage ratio currently stands at 1.6. Do we expect the leverage ratio to grow and what kind of targets do we have and when do we achieve it?
At the end of the [Technical Issues] return on equity quite low, like a single-digit — mid-single digit kind of a number. So do we have any targets there to increase the NBFC business?
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
Hi, Rajesh. No, I could not get your last question. Can you repeat?
Rajesh
Okay. The last question was on ROE, return-on-equity. I think return-on-equity according to me is single-digit probably at 6% to 7%. So do we expect ROE, return-on-equity of the NBFC business to grow higher?
Himanshu Gupta
So yeah, hi Rajesh. I am Himanshu. So as you pointed out that the loan book is — has not grown much during the financial year. There are couple of factors I’ll explain in detail. So number one, we have tightened our underwriting policies during the year. Even, you all must have seen higher delinquencies in the — other NBFCs and banks. So as a proactive measure, we have been continuously tightening the policy and we have reduced our approval rates during the year. So though the inflow of the new proposals has increased during the year, but the throughput and the sanction has owned lines. So that is the number one reason.
Secondly, as I discussed in last quarter’s earnings call also, we have shifted our focus from Fine LAP to Micro LAP. A couple of reasons behind the change in strategy because we are able to charge higher yield in Micro LAP and we believe it is more scalable and a granular portfolio and there is lesser competition from the banks, particularly in terms of pricing. So we have been building the Micro LAP team since almost a quarter now. And though the disbursements have been very less because of new team and new business setup — being set-up as of now.
On the other side, the LAP disbursements have already gone down. Just to give you some flavor, last year, we did disbursement of around INR250 crores under the LAP product, but during this year, nine months, we have disbursed almost INR65 crores. And that almost INR60 crores of LAP book is also foreclosed during the current year. So there is a, you know, the growth which was supposed to come in the LAP book. If we had assumed last year’s run rate, that has what’s happened and the loan book has remained flat on that front. So these are few reasons why the loan book has not gone up during the current year.
Second, coming to your second question on the leverage, you are right that one — currently we are leveraged only 1.6 times in terms of debt-to-equity and there is a huge headroom for us to further leverage. And we, as a management, we believe that we are comfortable at around 3 times to 3.5 times leverage. So there is a much headroom and I think for the next year or couple of years, we have enough equity to grow further.
And thirdly, coming to your last question, which is return-on-equity. So look, if you look at our nine months number, so ROE is around — just give me a minute — so ROE would be around 15% on the reported numbers. So — but as we move to the next few years, we believe we would be able to get better ROE because there are few products which are still at natural stage like Micro LAP, which will yield us higher ROEs, IRR as well as ROE. And also, as you said that the leverage is already very low. So that means you don’t give a operating leverage in terms of ROE. I hope this was clear?
Rajesh
Yeah, yeah. Understood, sir. One — just one follow-up question on the leverage. So if in case we try to grow our loan book, because our leverage is quite low here, we don’t need any equity, right, like with the existing equity itself because we could kind of increase the leverage from 1.6 to 3, that doesn’t means that we could double our loan book without any increase in the equity.
Himanshu Gupta
Yes, yes, without any further equity infusion, we can do with 3 or 3.5 times leverage. We can reach our loan book of about INR2,400 crores or INR2,500 crores because by that time we would also have additional equity pool through internal accruals.
Rajesh
Understood, sir. Just on the leverage part of it, right? So our leverage ratio is hovering around 1.5 to 1.8 over the past, let’s say, 2.5, 3 years, right? So why is the case like why are we not able to increase the leverage even though our AUM has grown significantly over the past 2.5 years?
Himanshu Gupta
Yeah. So if you look at the numbers for last financial year as well as FY ’23, the leverage has been going up between [Technical Issues]. It is only during the current year, given regulatory headwinds in the sector and the economic situation, we have been cautious in terms of growth in current year. If you look at last couple of years, that has been improving.
Rajesh
Okay. Do we see stress in our books, like do we — should we — do we — do we reduce our approval rates and reduce the disbursals for the following quarters also or do you see increase in disbursals/accrual rate in the coming quarters?
Himanshu Gupta
So first of all, the stress in our book. So we have not seen any major stress if you look at the stress that we have been witnessing in other lender’s balance sheet. So we are quite confident and satisfied with the quality of the book if you compare it with the peers.
And as far as growth is concerned, we are cautiously growing. And as I said earlier, we have tightened our credit policies. And also, so first thing is to increase the share of secured book in our portfolio. So currently on the on-book AUM, our unsecured book constitutes around 34% or 35% of on-book AUM. And we want to bring it down to 30% in next year or couple of years. And then, going forward, we will bring this further down. So that will help us in the the market cycles.
Rajesh
Understood, sir. And last question related to AUM, right, is there a guidance that you — that you could provide us in terms of where would the AUM reach in Q4 and probably by end of next year? Thanks.
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
So we continue to maintain same guidance, which we gave earlier of about 15% to 20% year-on-year growth with AUM.
Rajesh
Okay, because we have been flat for the past four quarters, right? Like if at all we want to achieve a 20% growth on AUM, we may — we’ll have to hit like INR1,500 crores roundabout. So will we hit INR1,500 crore by end of next quarter?
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
So the last quarter is always heavy. If you see our last two to three year’s operating numbers. So given that trend, we expect that we would be able to achieve 15% to 20% of AUM growth.
Rajesh
Okay. Thank you, sir. I’ll come back in the queue. Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Saumya, an Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
Saumya
Hi, sir. Good afternoon. I have a few questions. So in this quarter, can you kindly shed some light why the growth of the businesses across all segments have been hampered?
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
Yes. You see, Saumya, our first two quarters are very good and in third quarter, SEBI has did certain regulatory changes, closing down weekly settlements, which were running five weekly settlements, they made only one-for-one exchange and one monthly settlements. So in our broking, distribution and trading, we have affected because when market is down, even trading gaps are also lower. So because of this, our broking, trading, this segment has been affected. And in our NBFC, as Himanshu rightly said, just now in the earnings conference call, that there are certain regulatory changes there also by RBI. And moreover, we were into tightening our credit policy and other things considering the market and the regulatory changes done by RBI. So that segment was also affected.
And third, insurance broking, in that sense pickup of vehicles was slowdown in the economy and that was slowdown because of that insurance broking has been affected in third quarter. So I think in fourth quarter, certain segments will do well. We are quite hopeful. And the investor also changes their methodology considering regulatory changes. So the effect done by regulatory changes will be minimized in fourth quarter.
Saumya
Thank you, sir. I have a follow-up question. So how have the recent regulatory framework affected our business and what are the plans of the management to tackle these in the upcoming quarters?
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
Yeah. You see, as I told you, our weekly settlements has been closed. And so new exchanges will adopt it and there is a scope that those exchanges which are not doing well so far, we will start adopting these products and business can be started thereon. So that can be one of the possibility.
Secondly, cash market will do more trading. I think investors will start trading in cash market more. Third, I hope — I think margin trading funding product will do much better. So we are gearing up to board that product also. And generally, investors adopted the changes very fast in India. And I think things will be improved in the existing contracts or monthly contracts and NIFTY, which is there and in BSE, BSE Sensex is there as a derivative products. So volume would start more in those products only and even monthly products. So things will be — we are expecting, things would be better now.
Saumya
All right. Thank you so much, sir.
Subhash Chand Aggarwal
Okay. Thank you, Saumya.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, please hold and we will begin shortly because of some of the technical issue. [Operator Instructions] As there are no questions, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Mahesh C. Gupta. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Mahesh C. Gupta
Good evening to all. Myself Mahesh Gupta. Thank you all for participating in this earnings con call. I hope we have been able to answer your questions satisfactorily. So if you have any further questions or would like to know more about the company, please reach out to our Investor Relations Manager at X-B4 Advisory. Thank you. Stay safe and healthy. Thank you very much.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]