Dear Stakeholders,
The years so far were about laying the foundation for building an
institution. People, Products, Processes, Creating a national footprint, overlaying a
strong Control, Compliance and Governance culture that creates the foundation of this
institution. A lot of our work has been below the ground level. Not visible yet, but we
learn from nature that long shoots require deep roots, or they won't survive the
multiple weather challenges that will come their way over the next hundred years. Our
reason for existence is to make loans easy for small businesses in small towns in India.
We are first solving for access. Speed, Friction-Free, and a good experience are what we
seek with every business we finance. We have been at it since 2017, and while we are happy
to see how far we have come, we are excited about the possibilities of the future._
The ringing of the stock exchange bell was a coming-of-age moment for
the company. The response we received from individuals and institutional investors was
most humbling, and we remain grateful for the trust. Raising capital has given us the
ability to extend our shoots. In FY 2024, coming off a small base, our AUM grew by 38%. We
extended our reach by 31 branches within the 18 states and UT we are present in. It was a
year we invested behind people and resources to upgrade our technology platform, for it
forms the spinal cord on which scale can be built with profitability and governance._
We are on an infinite journey with no finish line. Every quarter is a
milestone by which we track our progress. This is the full financial year's result
since the listing we place in your hands.
We are a company that was born in a storm. Mumbai was being lashed by
the southwest monsoons and amidst a raging torrential downpour, we signed an agreement to
raise the initial capital.__Our journey so far has seen storms of liquidity, confidence,
and solvency, a period in which the world shut down, two waves of a Pandemic that brought
humanity to its knees and then the sharpest increase in interest rates we have ever seen
and regulatory tightening. That has helped us build a ship for the storms and not one that
is afraid of it. Our job is to manage the storms that come our way and catch the rainbows
of opportunities that always exist amidst them._
We look at the coming year with anticipation. We will do our best to
grow the company with controlled aggression and navigate the challenges that will surely
come, too. We are still a young company and have a lot of work to do. We do not know what
lies ahead, but we can only promise to bring our best game to it. Building a good company
is difficult enough. Building an institution is insanely harder, but as Robert Browning
says, "A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for!"
On behalf of all SBFCians, we thank our bankers, investors, rating
agencies, vendors and regulators for their trust. Trust is the North Star of Financial
Services, we will do our best never to slip on your trust.
| Sincerely, |
| Founding Team of SBFC Finance Limited |