

Bajaj Finance crosses ₹5 trillion AUM – Cleaner growth ahead?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bajaj Finance continued its streak of consistency in the March quarter (Q4FY26), with the non-banking financial company again delivering an over 20% growth in assets under management (AUM). This time, its AUM surpassed the ₹5-trillion milestone while it also maintained its sector-leading profitability metrics.Net profit rose 22% year-on-year (y-o-y) to ₹5,550 crore, supported by 20% growth in net interest income and a sharp moderation in credit costs.
Provisioning declined meaningfully as stress formation eased across key segments. On cue, the stock gained almost 1.5% on Thursday, outperforming the broader Nifty 50 index, which fell 0.5%.Besides AUM growth, what enthused investors is the expected change in the quality of growth.The drag from MSME stress and the captive 2- and 3-wheeler portfolios, which together weighed on asset quality and growth in FY26, appears largely behind the lender now.
The captive auto portfolio, despite forming less than 1% of AUM, had a disproportionate impact on credit costs and is expected to largely run down by September. MSME growth is expected to return to double-digits by Q2/Q3FY27 after deliberate portfolio pruning amid sector-wide stress.That flips the headwinds into tailwinds, while also reflecting positively on asset quality.
Stressed assets in Stage-2 and Stage-3 declined sequentially. Credit costs fell sharply from 2.9% in Q3FY26 to about 1.6% in Q4FY26 and are expected to moderate further to 1.45-1.60% in FY27.The management reiterated FY27 AUM growth guidance of 22-24% – roughly twice the expected system growth rate, supported by the recovery in MSME lending and continued traction in secured segments.
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