HOMEFIRST

Home First Finance (HomeFirst) in Apr’25 raised INR12.5b through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) at INR970 per share. This capital will help the company scale up its business for the next 3-4 years, accelerate growth, execute its strategic initiatives, and solidify its leadership in the affordable housing finance (AHF) segment. HomeFirst has been strengthening its presence in the AHF segment by leveraging its technology-focused underwriting approach. The company has delivered a strong AUM CAGR of ~33% over FY22-25E. Backed by its customer-centric approach and solid risk management framework, HomeFirst is well positioned to deliver an AUM CAGR of 26%+ over FY25-27E. The recent equity raise has reduced HomeFirst's leverage (assets to net worth ratio) from ~4.9x as of Dec’24 to ~3.3x (proforma) as of Apr’25 and increased its CRAR (capital to risk-weighted assets ratio) from ~33% as of Dec’24 to ~50% (proforma) as of Apr’25. The strong balance sheet will enable the company to engage with credit rating agencies for a potential rating upgrade, which could subsequently lead to an improvement in its cost of funds.