Message From
Managing Director

Dear Shareholders

It gives me immense pleasure to share with you the 16th Annual Report. This is indeed a momentous phase in the evolutionary growth of your Company and I feel privileged to have led Asirvad as Managing Director during FY 2022-23.

The year gone by was all about waving goodbye to the pandemic and getting back to the track of progress, rebuilding and consolidation. The economy showed clear signs of a rebound though the disruption of global supply chains affected manufacturing and services sectors and inflation rose significantly. For our customers, mostly women at the bottom of the pyramid, it was a mixed-bag situation; while shutdowns became a thing of the past, many were still reeling from the damage caused in terms of lives and livelihood.

Having stood by our customers during the seemingly unending Covid phase, we saw our commitment and resilience paying off in terms of vastly improved collections. As a result, we were able to record an impressive growth in AUM that crossed the ₹ 10,000 Crores milestone, going up by 43% Y-o-Y. We disbursed MFI loans worth ₹ 8,397 Crores and the number of our customers stood at 33 lakhs. Asirvad’s operating income increased by 24.60%, to reach ₹ 1,759 Crores in FY 2022-23.

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Creditably, there has been a total turnaround in profitability, and our PAT swelled to ₹ 218 Crores in FY 2022-23 from ₹ 15 Crores recorded in FY 2021-22. We believe that the 41% Q-o-Q jump in profits for Q4 suggests that we could make gains going forward, as the process of economic recovery is still on, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas. We believe that the healthy capital buffers and improvement in collections will help ramp-up disbursements in the coming fiscal as well. Our network criss-crosses the country and we have 1,684 branches across 391 districts of 22 states and 3 UTs.

We were the first MFI-NBFC in the country to be awarded rating of AA- by CRISIL. We have been able to maintain this credit rating, thanks to our robust risk management practices and processes.

We continue to invest in a strong digital ecosystem in tune with our conviction that technology is a key driver of financial inclusion. We have a fully integrated core banking system that has been developed in-house. In fact, Asirvad is one of the first NBFC-MFIs to develop and operate cashless disbursements, operates on a state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure, onboarding of customers supported by real-time integration with CIC for underwriting loans, automated KYC checks, centralized general ledgers integrated to each process, digital learning platform and a paperless office.

As is our wont, in FY 2022-23, to, Asirvad came up with several meaningful CSR projects, designed to help the most needy and underprivileged sections of the society. Let me give a few examples. In March this year, through the auspices of Manappuram Foundation, the CSR arm of the parent company, we distributed 50 electric wheelchairs for muscular dystrophy affected patients at a function in Kochi. In Valapad panchayat, 15 houses were built and handed over recently to BPL families in a colony. In another project aimed at students from destitute families, education kits were distributed to 2,200 children of four panchayats in Thrissur.

To conclude, none of these achievements, innovations and positive results would have been possible without the resilience and team spirit demonstrated by our workforce at all levels. It is a double delight when we realise that while your Company makes gains, it also empowers rural entrepreneurs and contributes to the nation’s overall economic development. Much of rural India is still outside the formal financial system and this is where MFIs like ours have a huge role to play.

I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the regulators for their continuous guidance and support in helping us prosper and serve those who are less privileged. I also acknowledge the efforts and guidance of our esteemed Board members and the parent Company. I express my gratitude to all our shareholders and customers for their continued support.

The journey of Asirvad has only begun. Together, let us innovate, be future-ready, go beyond the predictable and create new benchmarks.

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