LuLu Financial Holdings – a leading financial services conglomerate headquartered in Abu Dhabi, today announced the opening of 10 new branches of its NBFC business in India under the LuLu Finserv brand. The new branches take LuLu Financial Holdings’ global branch count to 277, as the company looks to positively impact various areas of financial services, in line with its financial inclusion goals.
Five of the new branches are in Coimbatore (Ramanathapuram, Vadavalli, Kavundapalayam, NSN Palayam, and Kuniyamuthur), with four in Thiruvananthapuram (Vithura, Maranalloor, Uchakkada, and Parassala), and one in Alleppey (Nooranad).
The inauguration of all ten branches was done virtually by Mr. Adeeb Ahmed, Managing Director, LuLu Financial Holdings, with the company’s senior management attending from various parts of the world.
Laying out the company’s vision for the sector, Mr. Adeeb Ahamed, said, “LuLu Financial Holdings has always been committed to the cause of financial inclusion and we are excited to deploy our global expertise to disrupt India’s micro lending space. By expanding across tier-1 & 2 cities and their suburbs in South India, we aim to make LuLu Finserv a people friendly brand that merges technology and human connect to simplify segments such as Gold Loan, Personal Loan, MSME loan, and Consumer Durable Loan. Our expansion in India reflects our ambition to become a leading player in this sector, and we look forward to serving our customers in a superior and qualitative manner.”
Mr. Surendran Amittathody, MD & CEO, LuLu Financial Services, said, “Our expansion is grounded in favourable consumer sentiment towards our products and services. We aspire to grow the LuLu Finserv network and reach closer to our customers, so as to contribute meaningfully towards financial inclusion through qualitative offerings in the micro-lending space.”
Bullish on growth prospects, Abu-Dhabi headquartered Lulu Financial Holdings is expanding its NBFC business in India by initially focusing on organic growth and is targeting to have a loan book size of Rs 100 crore by the end of March next year, according to a top company official. Lulu Financial Holdings, which is mainly into financial services, has investments in the Indian sub continent, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and APAC (Asia Pacific) regions. In India, the company owns the NBFC — Lulu Financial Services (India) Private Ltd — and Lulu Forex Private Ltd, India. The NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) started operations last year and is in the process of expanding its business starting from the South, Lulu Financial Holdings Managing Director Adeeb Ahamed said. “We have got into the NBFC space and it is very big in India…. It is a growth sector and we are targeting that as an area that we will be investing more… We have started expanding in Kerala and we will be taking it to other states as well,” he told PTI in a recent interview. Currently, the NBFC business is focusing on the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) sector. “We are hoping to have a book size of Rs 100 crore by March 2023. It is the lending side,” Ahamed said In a report released in March, rating agency Icra Ratings said the asset under management of NBFCs (retail) in India is expected to grow by 5-7 per cent in fiscal 2022 and by 8-10 per cent in fiscal 2023. According to Ahamed, initially, the company will look at organic growth for the NBFC vertical as it will provide an opportunity to be more grounded and hear out the consumers more closely. “If it is inorganic, then it will be taking too much on the plate at this point of time. With such volatility in the market, we would rather like to grow organically. First two years of expansion will be fully organic,” he said. About the regulatory framework in India, Ahamed said the country is a strong and growing market, and there have been a lot of changes. “India is a very strong market but it is a growing market. One should not see it in comparison to other matured markets and start making strategies that have worked in other markets. We would always want to see India as a market of its own, which has its own character… a lot of things have changed in the last few decades,” he pointed out. Emphasising that his group is not here for a valuation purpose but for the long-term, Ahamed said it had set up the forex division in 2012 and at that time, it did not have the interest to go to any other space. “Today, a lot of regulations have been eased and it is more comfortable for international people like us to come. It encourages us to come and start deploying our own funds in the market,” he said. Lulu Financial Holdings has a presence in the hospitality space also but the core focus is the financial sector.
Adeeb & Shafeena Foundation, non profit organization supporting initiatives in geriatric care, education, and art and LuLu Finserv, the NBFC division of Abu Dhabi based LuLu Financial Holdings join hands to support Kochi Muziris Biennale. (KMB). The 5th edition of Biennale is supported by the Foundation under the Exhibition Benefactors Circle Factory. LuLu Finserv will be one of the official corporate partners.
“We believe that art has an important role in nurturing relationships and preserving the cultural fabric of any society. Several of our projects under the Foundation are focused on community development, and we are happy to contribute to the vision of the Kochi Muziris Biennale to unite people through art and create a sense of appreciation for it in our daily lives, ” says Adeeb Ahamed, MD, Lulu Financial Holdings. Adeeb Ahamed is also one of the trustees of the KMB-2022. Biennale is happening from December 12, 2022 to April 10th, 2023.
