Slice Appoints Former RBI ED And SBI’s Ex-MD In Prominent Positions In 2023

Slice, the Bangalore-based startup, has stated that it has appointed the former RBI ED Eugene Karthak and ex-SBI Managing director S Vishvanathan in the positions of Independent director and advisor, respectively.

Karthak and Visvanathan will join Slice’s parent Company named Garagepreneurs Internet Private Limited. Slice has stated the new decision in a press release. It has been commented as a strategic move that has come off at a time of changing fintech government norms and strict shutdown of the lending apps by the regulators.

Slice has stated that Karthak will aim to provide strategic advice and promote corporate governance. In addition, Vishvanathan will work on strategic decision-making.

Eugene was a former ED and has managed the banking regulation, supervision, information technology, financial inclusion, and currency segments of management in the RBI.

Vishvanathan has led the State Bank of India as the MD and the director of the Central Board. In addition, he was previously appointed as the MD and Chief Executive Officer of SBI Capital Markets.

Slice has recently shut down its product offerings to deliver comprehensive payment options with products like slice borrow, slice mini, and slice UPI. The Bengaluru-based startup entered the unicorn segment in November 2021 after the company raised 220 million USD in series-B funding led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners.

It has not been the first time that the fintech company has appointed former regulators in the company. Another fintech company named BharatPe has added the Former RBI Deputy governors named BP Kanungo and Kaushik Dutta, the Chairman of Zomato, as their independent directors. The company has added Rajnish Kumar, SBI chief, as the chairman of the company.

At the same time, the slice’s revenue has touched the 300 crore INR benchmark.

Slice, a fintech unicorn, more than quadrupled its revenue in FY22, accounted by a strong lending game and a huge $220 million funding round. According to the firm’s consolidated financial statement, its operating scale increased 4.18X to Rs 283.08 crore in FY22 from Rs 67.7 crore in FY21.

Internet handling fees and loan and service commission income accounted for 52.6% of the company’s total operating revenue. From Rs 42.14 crore in FY21 to Rs 148.97 crore in FY22, this income increased by 253.2% to Rs 148.97 crore. Slice also operates a non-banking finance corporation (NBFC) called Quadrillion Finance Pvt Ltd, which offers customers unsecured loans of up to Rs 50,000. Interest on loans accounted for 45.45% of total revenue, which increased 5.64X to Rs 128.67 crore compared to the prior fiscal year.

In FY22, the company led by Rajan Bajaj increased its collection from EMI defaults (read as penalties) by 97.5% to Rs 5.45 crore. Following the Reserve Bank of India’s new digital lending guidelines, the fintech company will cease card operations in November 2022. In the current fiscal year and FY24, the company’s primary source will be unsecured loans.

In the previous fiscal year, Slice’s miscellaneous other non-operating income increased 8.54X to Rs 9.83 crore.
Advertising and promotion were the company’s most complex and costly cost centers, accounting for 38.67% of total spending. This price rose 33.6X in FY22 to Rs 209.79 crore compared to Rs 6.23 crore in FY21.

During the previous fiscal year, Slice had total current liabilities of Rs 1,255 crore, for which the company paid interest expenses of Rs 65.09 crore. During the same period, legal, professional fees, and subscription membership were attributed for Rs 8 crore and Rs 20.24 crore, respectively.

Importantly, the company incurred a loss of Rs 58.21 crore on the impairment of financial assets (non-cash), increasing its overall expenditure by 3.22X to Rs 542.49 crore in FY22 from Rs 167.98 crore in FY21.

Slice’s losses increased 2.52X to Rs 253.67 crore in FY22, up from Rs 100.37 crore in FY21. Its ROCE and EBITDA margins were -16.52% and -62.14%, respectively.
The growth in the rate of losses has impacted revenue growth. The company has planned to optimize its operations with a credit card disguised as a BNPL.

Edited by Prakriti Arora