Bajaj Finance reported Q1 FY27 AUM growth of 24% YoY to ₹5.46 lakh crore, with new loan bookings up 20% to 1.61 crore and its retail deposit book crossing ₹68,500 crore — strong headline numbers, but the market is quietly watching one ratio: the Net Interest Margin.
Twenty-four percent AUM growth sounds like a party. And it is — until you read the fine print on how the party is being funded.
AUM (Assets Under Management) for an NBFC like Bajaj Finance is the total loan book outstanding. Growing it 24% YoY when the broader banking system grows credit at 12–15% means you're taking serious market share. Impressive. But here's the CFO question: what did that growth cost you?
Bajaj Finance's deposit book — essentially the money it borrows from retail customers to lend out — now sits at ₹68,500 crore. That's a deliberate shift away from expensive wholesale borrowing (commercial paper, NCDs) toward cheaper, stickier retail deposits. Smart liability management.
But here's the squeeze: deposit rates have stayed elevated longer than expected. When your cost of funds rises and you can't pass all of it on to borrowers without killing loan demand, your Net Interest Margin — NIM, the spread between what you earn on loans and what you pay on deposits — compresses. A 24% AUM growth with a shrinking NIM can actually mean lower profitability per rupee lent.
This is the ratio analysis moment. Don't just chase the top-line growth number. Ask: what's the NIM? What's the Return on Assets? Those two ratios will tell you whether Bajaj Finance is building value — or just building volume.
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