Bajaj Finserv remains fundamentally strong

Bajaj Finserv remains fundamentally strong, with its lending businesses continuing to drive growth. In Q1 FY27, consolidated profit including non-controlling interests rose 18.2% YoY to ₹6,297 crore, while total income increased 19.1% to ₹42,037 crore and NII grew 20% to ₹14,528 crore. The biggest growth engine is Bajaj Finance. Its AUM increased around 24% YoY to ₹5.47 lakh crore, while consolidated PAT rose 27.4% to ₹5,986 crore. Asset quality also improved, with consolidated GNPA at 0.96% and NNPA at 0.39%. Bajaj Housing Finance is another important contributor, giving the group exposure to India's growing housing-credit market. The insurance businesses provide additional diversification, although Bajaj Life Insurance's Q1 PAT fell sharply, mainly because of lower capital gains and the impact of GST; its value of new business nevertheless nearly doubled, with VNB margin improving to 15.9%. A fresh positive development is Bajaj Finance's acquisition of a 5% stake in TrueFan AI, part of Bajaj Finserv's "Finserv Intelligence" initiative. The investment supports the group's strategy of using AI for personalised customer engagement, digital onboarding and dealer support.