Fusion Micro Finance Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

The Company was originally incorporated as ‘Ambience Fincap Private Limited’ on September 5, 1994 at New Delhi, India as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956, and was granted a certificate of incorporation by Registrar of Companies, Delhi and Haryana at New Delhi (“RoC”). On January 9, 2003, the RBI granted a certificate of registration bearing registration no. B-14.02857 to the Company, for the registration of the Company as a non-deposit accepting non-banking financial company under Section 45IA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Subsequently, the name of the company was changed to ‘Fusion Micro Finance Private Limited’ and a fresh certificate of incorporation, dated April 19, 2010 was issued by the RoC to describe the business of the Company, post which the RBI granted a certificate of registration dated May 19, 2010 reflecting the change of name. The Company was granted an ‘NBFC – Microfinance Institution’ status by the RBI with effect from January 28, 2014 and a modified certificate of registration bearing registration no. B-14.02857 was issued by the RBI to this effect. The name of the Company was further changed to Fusion Micro Finance Limited upon conversion to a public limited company and a fresh certificate of incorporation was issued by the RoC on July 20, 2021, post which a fresh certificate of registration as an NBFC (not accepting public deposits) dated October 1, 2021, was issued by the RBI reflecting the change in name of the Company.

Fusion Micro Finance founded with the core idea of creating opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid, and it does so by providing financial services to unserved and underserved women in rural and peri-rural areas across India. Its network and services have improved accessibility to formal credit at affordable prices, thereby positively impacting the lives of its customers in rural India, and it was one of the youngest companies (in terms of getting an NBFC-MFI licence) among the top NBFC-MFIs in India in terms of AUM as of June 30, 2022. It has achieved this through its commitment over the years to its key pillars of growth comprising customer centricity, strategic geographic diversification with a rural focus, embracing technology for growth, emphasis on nurturing and developing its personnel, good corporate governance, stakeholder management and prudent risk management, as well as ability to raise growth capital through the support of marquee investors even during difficult macroeconomic conditions.

The company has prioritized organic geographic diversification since its inception in 2010, with a focus on strategic management of state concentration risk by expanding into underpenetrated rural areas that offer significant growth opportunities. As a result, it has achieved a significant footprint across India, where it has extended its reach to 2.90 million active borrowers which were served through its network of 966 branches and 9,262 permanent employees spread across 377 districts in 19 states and union territories in India, as of June 30, 2022. Its significant footprint of active borrowers and branch network puts it in a vantage position to further penetrate and deepen its presence in areas in which it has established branch infrastructure but remain relatively untapped and also to expand into new regions that have significant growth potential. Its extensive and geographically diverse distribution network allows it to offer “last-mile” connectivity to its customers in remote rural areas.

Business area of the company

Fusion Micro Finance as an organization was set-up in 2010 & is a registered NBFC - MFI which operates in a Joint Liability Group lending model of Grameen. Its clients comprise mainly of women living in rural and semi-urban areas. Its focus is reaching out to unbanked and providing financial services to women entrepreneurs belonging to the economically and socially deprived section of the society. Its responsibilities are not restricted merely to financial support but also to acquaint the clients to manage their financials by disseminating Financial Literacy to them

Key awards, accreditations, and recognition

• 2014:  Awarded ‘Best MFI of the Year 2014’ at ‘Microfinance India Awards 2014’ instituted by ACCESS
  
• 2016:  Awarded ‘Star of the Industry Awards’ under BFSI category from the Star Group.
  
• 2016: Recognized as ‘S.T.A.R (Socially Transparent and Responsible) MFI 2015’ by MIX.
  
• 2017 : Awarded ‘Best Usage of ICT in Rural Development’ award at Business World Digital India Summit, 2017.
  
• 2017: Recognized as one of the ‘10 most valuable Non-banking Financial Companies’ by Insight Success.
  
• 2018: Awarded ‘Best NBFC - MFI in Customer Literacy and Capacity building’ at MFIN Awards, 2018.
  
• 2018: Awarded ‘Champions of Rural Markets 2018’ award at The Economic Times Rural Strategy Summit, 2018.
  
• 2018: Awarded ‘Project of the Year Award 2018’ from the Project Management Institute, India.
  
• 2019: Awarded ‘CSR Leadership Award’ by UBS Forums at CSR Summit & Awards 2019.
  
• 2019: Awarded ‘Best BFSI Brand’ at India UAE Strategic Conclave 2019.
  
• 2019: Awarded ‘Dream Company to Work’ in ‘Microfinance’ category from ABP News at BFSI Conclave, 2019.
  
• 2020: Awarded ‘Best Workplaces in Microfinance’ by Great Place to Work Institute India.
  
• 2020: Awarded ‘Financial Inclusion & Literacy Leadership Award 2020’ from AWOKE India Foundation at India Financial Literacy Conclave 2020 in the category ‘Institution’.
  
• 2020: Ranked 150th in the Special Report Financial Times High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2020.
  
• 2021: Awarded ‘Great Workplace’ certification as well as winning a spot for the first time in the ‘Top 30 BFSI Workplaces’ List by Great Place to Work Institute India.
  
• 2021: Recognized among the Fortune India Next Fortune 500 companies with the potential to transition from a mid-size marvel to a successful Fortune 500 company by Fortune India.
• 2022: Awarded the ‘Silver award - Covid Indigenous Response Project ‘at the CSR Health Impact Awards from the IHW Council.
  
• 2022: Awarded for ‘Financial Inclusion & Future Services in India – 2030’ in the lending category and small NBFC class by Assocham at the 17th Annual Summit & Awards Banking and Financial Sector Leading Companies.

Major events and milestones

• 1994: The Company was incorporated as Ambience Fincap Private Limited.
  
• 2010: Started operating under the brand name ‘Fusion’.
  
• 2010: First investment by RIF North 2 in the Company.
  
• 2013: First investment by NMI Frontier Fund and the other foreign shareholder of the Company at that time.
  
• 2014: Issuance of first Listed Non-Convertible Debentures.
  
• 2015: Expanded operation in up to five states.
  
• 2015: First investment by Oikocredit Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A. and Belgian Investment Company in the Company.
  
• 2016: First investment by Creation I and Global Impact Funds, S.C.A., SICAR and certain existing shareholders, in the Company.
  
• 2017: Achieved AUM of over Rs 1,000 crore.
  
• 2018: Expanded operations up to 18 states
  
• 2018: First investment by Honey Rose, which is directly owned by certain private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus LLC and follow-on round by Creation I in the Company
  
• 2018: Issuance of market-linked debentures.
  
• 2019: Follow-on round from Honey Rose, which is directly owned by certain private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus LLC and Creation II.
  
• 2021: Reached 2,200,000 active loan clients through 725 branches across 18 states.