Poonawalla Housing Finance rebrands as Grihum Housing Finance post TPG takeover

Posted on by

Following a change in ownership, Poonawalla Housing Finance has been rebranded as Grihum Housing Finance with global private equity firm TPG now holding 99.02 per cent stake in the housing finance company. Before being promoted by Poonawalla Fincorp, the housing financier was a part of the Magma Group.

“Each management change has occurred because of organisation stage and evolution. It largely was the need for the fillip capital, but the dream of the institution has remained unwavering and constant,” MD and CEO Manish Jaiswal said.

“We have recorded 4X growth, ₹1,800 crore to ₹7,500 crore AUM over the last six years. We are doubling loan book every three years. The number of customers we serve has moved almost 7 times from 11,000 to 75,000 customers and soon we should be crossing the milestone of 1 lakh customers,” he added.

The lender is aiming to touch an AUM of ₹8,200 crore by March 2024, and grow further to ₹11,000 crore by FY25 and ₹14,000-15,000 crore by FY26.

Focusing first time borrowers

The focus will remain on lending to first time home loan borrowers, especially self-made individuals and micro-entrepreneurs in the semi-urban, peri-urban and rural regions of the country, he added.

US-based alternative asset management firm TPG has committed total capital of ₹1,000 crore of which it infused ₹538 crore in Q2 FY24 under the first tranche.

“We want to be 3 per cent return on assets (RoA) company and want to achieve 15 per cent profitability at return on equity (RoE) level. That target has not changed (post TPG acquisition),” Jaiswal said.

The HFC has recorded a CAGR of around 28 per cent in the last six years and has a network of 195 branches at present. Nearly 85 per cent customers are women borrowers, including applicants and co-applicants. The net worth of the lender is over ₹1,800 crore.

Around 74 per cent of the portfolio is affordable housing loans with an average ticket size of around ₹10 lakh, Jaiswal said adding that 85 per cent loans are below ₹25 lakh.