Sundaram Finance, a Chennai-based lender, said on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, that its standalone net profit rose 21% to ₹475 crore in the July to September 2026 quarter. On the same day, S. Viji stepped down as Chairman after 21 years. Independent Director R. Venkatraman takes his place.
The change matters because, according to The Hindu BusinessLine, Venkatraman is the first person from outside the TSF family to chair the company's board.
What happened
Sundaram Finance is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC). It lends money but is not a bank. Most of its loans are for vehicles, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. The newspaper's live Q2 results page for the day also listed the company's results, along with Dabur, Nykaa and others.
The quarter is called Q2 FY27. It is the second quarter of the financial year that ends in March 2027. According to The Hindu, profit grew because the company gave more loans and had fewer bad loans.
Shares of Sundaram Finance closed at ₹3,975 on the NSE, down 2% for the day, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. You can read more company results on our results page.
The numbers
Both newspapers gave the same main figures. The table below puts them together.
| Item (Q2 FY27) | Amount | Change from a year ago |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone net profit | ₹475 crore | Up 21% |
| Consolidated net profit | ₹517 crore | Up 6% |
| Net interest income (NII) | ₹963 crore | Up 17% |
| Operating profit | ₹557 crore | Up 11% |
| Disbursements (new loans given) | ₹10,355 crore | Up 28% |
| Assets under management (AUM) | ₹65,992 crore | Up 19% |
The table shows that new lending grew fastest and consolidated profit grew slowest. The NII and operating profit figures come from The Hindu. The consolidated profit figure comes from The Hindu BusinessLine.
Standalone profit counts only Sundaram Finance itself. Consolidated profit adds its group firms: Sundaram Home Finance, Sundaram Asset Management and the joint venture Royal Sundaram General Insurance. The reports did not explain why consolidated profit grew only 6%.
For the six months from April to September 2026, disbursements rose 25% to ₹19,302 crore. Standalone profit rose 21% to ₹997 crore, and consolidated profit rose 20% to ₹1,153 crore, according to The Hindu. By our calculation, standalone profit in the April to June quarter was ₹522 crore. That is a little higher than the ₹475 crore earned in Q2.
Bad loans came down
A lender earns only when borrowers pay back. So the share of loans that have stopped paying is a key number. Sundaram Finance improved on all three measures in the table below.
| Measure | September 2026 | A year ago |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Stage 3 assets | 1.84% | 2.03% |
| Net Stage 3 assets | 0.91% | 1.13% |
| Provision coverage | 51% | 45% |
Lower Stage 3 numbers mean fewer bad loans. Higher provision coverage means more money is kept aside for them. Both papers gave the Stage 3 figures. The provision figure comes from The Hindu.
A new Chairman for the first time in 21 years
According to The Hindu BusinessLine, S. Viji left the board as Non-Executive Director and Chairman because of his age and other personal reasons. He had led the board for 21 years.
The board chose R. Venkatraman as the new Chairman. He earlier headed the consulting business of KPMG India. He has more than four decades of experience in management consulting.
Harsha Viji continues as Executive Vice-Chairman and Rajiv Lochan as Managing Director. For readers, the key point is simple. The board is now led by an independent director, not a family member.
A change inside the group
The board also approved a step to make the group structure simpler. Sundaram Finance will buy all 3,90,53,158 shares of Sundaram Alternate Assets Ltd (SAAL) from Sundaram Asset Management Company. Each share has a face value of ₹10. The total price is ₹75 crore.
Today, Sundaram Finance owns SAAL through another group company. After the deal, it will own SAAL directly. SAAL earned revenue of ₹99 crore and a profit of ₹21 crore from April to September 2026. Our business section explains more company deals like this.
What management said
Rajiv Lochan told The Hindu BusinessLine that the company's focus on used vehicle loans "has worked out well." He said 30% of the loans given in the first half of FY27 were for used vehicles. He added that the types of loans Sundaram Finance gives grew at double-digit rates across the industry.
Lochan said the company is "constructive on growth" for the second half of the year. He named three things to watch: tensions between countries, the direction of interest rates, and the effect of a below-normal monsoon on people's mood.
Harsha Viji said the team delivered strong results despite three problems: renewed tensions in West Asia, swings in crude oil prices and tighter global money conditions. Our report on crude oil prices and India's oil bill explains why oil matters for India.
Why it matters to a common investor
Strong profit growth does not always lift a share price. Here, the stock fell 2% on results day. Share prices depend on what buyers already expected, so one day's move tells you little.
The gap between standalone and consolidated growth is worth noting. A reader who sees only "profit up 21%" may miss that group profit rose just 6%. To compare with another lending group, see our story on Bajaj Finserv's Q2 results.
Risks to keep in mind
- A weak monsoon can hurt rural incomes. Some borrowers may then find it harder to repay vehicle loans.
- Interest rate changes affect how much the company pays to borrow and how much it earns on loans.
- Management itself named oil price swings and global tensions as concerns. These can affect vehicle demand.
- Used vehicle loans are a large share of new lending, so any trouble in that segment matters more.
- The new board leader may bring new priorities over time.
What to watch next
Watch whether bad loans keep falling in the coming quarters and whether loan growth stays strong. The full results and the details of the SAAL deal are in the company's filing on the BSE or NSE website.
Words explained
- NBFC: A company that gives loans like a bank but cannot accept normal savings account deposits.
- Standalone and consolidated: Standalone covers one company only. Consolidated adds the results of its group companies.
- Disbursements: The total money given out as new loans in a period.
- AUM: The total value of loans a lender is managing. If it has lent ₹100 in all to many people, its AUM is ₹100.
- NII: Interest earned on loans minus interest paid on borrowed money.
- Operating profit: Earnings from the main business before money is set aside for bad loans and before tax.
- Gross and Net Stage 3 assets: Loans where borrowers have stopped paying. Net is what remains after the money set aside for losses.
- Provision coverage: The share of bad loans that the lender has already set money aside for.
- Independent director: A board member who is not part of the owner family or the management.
Sources: The Hindu BusinessLine, The Hindu.
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