CASHe’s profit declines 95% in FY24, revenue grows 16%

Personal loan and digital lending platform CASHe reported steady growth during the fiscal year ending March 2024. However, the Mumbai-based company’s profit plummeted by 95% due to a sharp increase in customer acquisition costs during the last fiscal year.

CASHe’s revenue from operations grew by 16.1% to Rs 650.9 crore in FY24 from Rs 560.6 crore in FY23, according to its consolidated financial statement sourced from the Registrar of companies (RoC).

CASHe is a personal loan and digital lending platform targeting millennials and Gen Z in India. It also provides “buy now, pay later” products to salaried individuals through web and mobile apps.

Sale of services was the largest income source which declined by 6.2% to Rs 492.52 crore, accounting for 75.66% of total operational revenue. Its income from other operating activities surged 4.4X to Rs 158.4 crore. The company also made an additional Rs 17.6 crore from interest income which pushed its total income to reach Rs 668.54 crore in FY24.

On the expense side, impairment loss on financial assets remained the largest expense, climbing 26.9% to Rs 256.84 crore, constituting 38.58% of total costs. Finance costs increased by 20.8% to Rs 147.39 crore, while customer acquisition costs surged by 63.5% to Rs 40.38 crore.

Collection expenses and employee benefits grew by 41.1% and 29.5%, respectively. Overall, CASHe’s total expenses increased by 22.4% to Rs 665.8 crore in the last fiscal year, up from Rs 544.1 crore in FY23.
CASHe’s profit fell by 95% to Rs 1.44 crore from Rs 26.33 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at 40.21% and 23.21%, respectively. On a unit basis, it spent Rs 1.02 to earn a rupee of operating revenue during the last fiscal year (FY24).

The Mumbai-based company’s Cash and bank balances surged by 92.3% to Rs 95.22 crore and current assets were worth Rs 718 crore in FY24.

According to TheKredible, CASHe has secured approximately $38 million in funding to date. This includes equity funding of $19 million raised from its Singapore-based holding company, TSLC Pte Ltd, in January 2022.

With its last major fund raise in early 2022, CASHe looks headed for some tough times, and would be grateful to have some dry powder left over for the current and possibly next financial year. Worsening markets, high competitive intensity and tighter regulatory oversight have all combined to make it a tough year for lenders in FY25, and we expect CASHe to fare no better than most. In fact, future lending requirements will see higher costs as well as equity capital runs low for the firm. The firm will need to pull off something pretty special to ensure a strong start is not cut off at its peak.