ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd(ESAFSFB)

NSE: ESAFSFBBSE: 544020

₹ 38.75-4.98%refreshed 23 Oct, 03:30 pm ISTMarket cap: ₹ 2,000 crNext results: 29 Oct 2026Website: www.esafbank.comUpdated: 24 Oct 2026

About

ESAF Small Finance Bank, incorporated as an SFB in 2017, serves unserved and underserved households, MSMEs, and rural customers across 26 states and union territories in India. As of March 2026 the bank had crossed 100 lakh (10 million) customers and held gross advances of ₹18,224 crore, growing to ₹23,216 crore by Q1 FY27. It originated from ESAF Foundation, an NGO established in 1992, and has since shifted its book toward secured lending, with gold loans, MSME, agri and retail products now constituting 56% of gross advances.^[1]

Business segments

Retail banking contributed 84.2% of total revenue (₹3,661.64 crore) in FY26, up 4% from ₹3,530 crore in FY25.^[2][1]
Treasury revenue was ₹404.85 crore (9.3%) in FY26 vs ₹535 crore in FY25, down 24%.^[2][1]
Other Banking Operations revenue rose 45% to ₹178.44 crore (4.1%) in FY26 from ₹123 crore in FY25.^[2][1]
Wholesale Banking revenue was ₹103.3 crore (2.4%) in FY26 vs ₹142 crore in FY25, down 27%.^[2][1]

Loan book mix

Gross advances reached ₹23,216 crore in Q1 FY27, up 27% YoY. Secured portfolio stood at ₹14,465 crore (62% of book) vs 59% a year earlier.^[3]
Microfinance share of gross advances fell to 39% in FY26 from 47% a year earlier.^[1]
Gold loans were the largest single advance category at ₹8,858 crore (39% of gross advances) in FY26, up from ₹5,734 crore (31%) the prior year.^[1]
MARG portfolio (MSME, Agri, Retail, Gold) grew 42% YoY to ₹12,909 crore in Q1 FY27, constituting 56% of gross advances; MARG GNPA remained below 1% in FY26.^[3]
Emerging Household segment (individual secured loans up to ₹10 lakh for customers graduating from microfinance) grew 185% YoY and contributed 32% of gross advances in Q1 FY27.^[3]
Traditional microfinance group loan portfolio declined 58% YoY and 26% QoQ to ₹2,362 crore in Q1 FY27.^[3]
Agricultural loans grew to ₹1,257 crore (6% of gross advances) and MSME loans to ₹617 crore (3%) in FY26.^[1]

Branch network and reach

Network spans 26 states/union territories with 804 banking outlets, 720 ATMs, 1,047 Customer Service Centres, 2,923 banking agents, 737 business facilitators, and 32 institutional business correspondents as of FY26.^[1]
69% of banking outlets are in rural and semi-urban areas; 53% of customers are in those geographies.^[1]
50 new banking outlets are planned for FY27; 17 had already been opened as of Q1 FY27.^[3]
Business correspondent services previously run by ESMACO were internalised from July 1, 2024, with 5,109 employees absorbed.^[4]

Deposits and funding

CASA ratio stood at 23.4% in Q1 FY27, down from 24.8% in Q1 FY26. CASA balances were ₹6,181 crore with cost of deposits at 7.1% in FY26.^[3]
Retail deposits grew 9% YoY to ₹23,674 crore in FY26; NRI deposits stood at ₹5,248 crore.^[1]
Total deposits grew 19% YoY in Q1 FY27.^[3]
The bank raised ₹415 crore of Tier II subordinated debt by private placement in FY26; CRAR was 22.22% at FY26 against a 15% requirement.^[1]

Key operating metrics

NIM expanded to 7.9% in Q1 FY27 from 6.0% in Q1 FY26; full-year FY26 NIM was 6.4%.^[3]
GNPA declined to 5.4% in Q1 FY27 from 7.5% in Q1 FY26; NNPA fell to 0.8% from 3.8% over the same period.^[3]
Micro Banking portfolio GNPA was 13% in FY26 vs 12.7% a year earlier; its NNPA was 4.37%.^[1]
Slippages dropped to ₹74.7 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹468 crore in Q1 FY26; annualised gross slippage ratio was 1.4% in Q1 FY27.^[3]
PCR improved to 85.5% in Q1 FY27 (including ₹64.7 crore provision above RBI norms) from 73.2% in Q1 FY26.^[3]
Credit cost (annualised) was 4.4% in Q1 FY27; full-year FY26 credit cost was 4.7%, down 200 bps YoY.^[3]
Cost-to-income ratio improved to 58.1% in Q1 FY27 from 78.2% in Q1 FY26; operating expenses grew 8% YoY.^[3]
CRAR stood at 23.9% in Q1 FY27 (Tier-1: 14.7%, Tier-2: 7.5% as of FY26); LCR was 143.4% in FY26.^[3]

Customers

The bank crossed 10 million (100 lakh) customers as of 31 March 2026, with strong representation of women borrowers across rural and semi-urban markets.^[1]
Target segments include unserved/underserved households, MSMEs, agriculture customers, NRIs/HNIs, senior citizens, migrant labourers, and small traders/micro-entrepreneurs.^[1]

Expansion and transformation

ESAF 2.0 StratoNeXt, a core banking technology transformation programme, is targeted to go live by end of calendar year 2026.^[3][1]
Secured portfolio is targeted to reach 70% of gross advances by 31 March 2027, up from 62% in Q1 FY27.^[5][1]
Tier-1 equity capital raise is being explored, possibly by end of FY27; authorised capital was increased in FY26 ahead of a proposed equity issue.^[3][1]
Shareholder approval is sought to raise up to ₹2,000 crore via debt securities including Tier II and AT1 instruments.^[1]
The bank is implementing system solutions for Ind AS 109 and 116.^[1]

Recent developments

The bank returned to quarterly profitability in Q3 FY26 (PAT ₹7 crore), improving to ₹24 crore in Q4 FY26 and ₹80 crore in Q1 FY27.^[5][1]
Full-year FY26 disbursements reached ₹42,530 crore vs ₹20,984 crore in FY25, with secured lending at 83% of disbursements.^[1]
CARE rated the bank's Tier II bonds A- with Negative outlook in FY26, vs CARE A (Negative) as of March 28, 2025.^[1][4]
No dividend was recommended for FY26, as for FY25.^[1][4]
Promoters are seeking reinstated board nomination rights: up to two directors for EFHL and one for KP Thomas.^[1]
Shri Karthikeyan M, former Executive Director of Bank of India, was appointed part-time Chairman for three years effective 21 December 2025.^[6]

Market Cap

₹2,000 Cr

High / Low

₹46 / 20

Stock P/E

-387.5

Price / Book

1.1

Book Value

₹25

EPS

₹-3.2

No. of Shares

51.57 Cr

ROE

-8.9%

Sales

₹4,348 Cr

Net Profit

₹-166 Cr

Promoter holding

63.2%

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ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd(ESAFSFB)

About

Business segments

Loan book mix

Branch network and reach

Deposits and funding

Key operating metrics

Customers

Expansion and transformation

Recent developments

Signal history

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