Good evening, everyone. My name is Jill Deviprasad, and I am the Head of Investor Relations for Jio Financial Services Limited. On the declaration of the results for the third quarter end of December 31, 2024, for FY 2024-25, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome the analysts, investors, and our colleagues to this virtual meeting. We have with us today our MD and CEO, Mr. Hitesh Sethia, and our Group Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Abhishek Pathak. In this call, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. The earnings presentation is uploaded on our website, www.jfs.in, and on the stock exchanges. Before I hand over the call, I would like to read out the Safe Harbor Statement. This presentation contains forward-looking statements, which may be identified by their use of words like plans, expects, estimates, or other words of similar meaning.
All statements that address expectations or predictions about the future, including but not limited to statements about strategy for growth, product development, and market position, are forward statements based on rationale and data. Actual results may vary materially given market circumstances. I will now hand over the call to Hitesh to discuss the business in detail.
Thank you, Jill, and good evening, everyone. A very warm welcome to all those joining this earnings call today. At the outset, I would like to wish all of you and your near and dear ones a very healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. Today, we shall discuss our business performance for Q3 FY 25 and nine months ended December 31, 2024, which reflects, in my view, strong operational execution. Our mission at JFSL is to simplify financial services by establishing ourselves as a trusted digital-first financial companion for the people of India, catering to their diverse financial needs by leveraging next-gen technology. Our adjacency to an expansive customer base provides valuable insights, which, combined with advanced data analytics, enables us to identify what customers want, when they want it, and how they want it.
This integration of technology, customer intelligence, and analytics empowers us to deliver tailored solutions while minimizing risks and maintaining the highest standards of governance and regulatory adherence. In this slide, you can see a snapshot of the key operating highlights for the third quarter of FY 25. I'm happy to share that with a diversified product suite, enhanced distribution, and a modular and scalable tech stack, we are firmly in an expansion mode. Having put the building blocks of the business in place, our focus is now squarely on operational execution, with an unwavering determination to craft best-in-class digital journeys for our customers. Whether it is to buy a digital gold, open a payment bank account, avail loan or mutual funds, purchase two-wheeler insurance, or onboard a small merchant for payment solutions, customers can complete their journey within a matter of minutes through a seamless and end-to-end digital process.
Simultaneously, we are also focusing on enhancing our distribution channels across the businesses. Jio Finance Limited, or JFL, which is our NBFC, now has nine offices across seven cities for last-mile fulfillment. Jio Payments Bank Limited has expanded its business correspondent network to around 7,300 BCs across the country, and Jio Payment Solutions Limited has embedded its payment solution with Jio Bharat, which allows us to onboard small merchants at scale, commensurate to growing demand for affordable feature phones across the country. We have now entered into a marketing tie-up to leverage the My Jio app for customer acquisition. The result of these strategic initiatives is beginning to reflect in our business performance. The assets under management of JFL stood at ₹4,199 crores in Q3 FY 2025, compared to ₹1,206 crores in the preceding quarter.
The payment bank saw a robust 25% quarter-on-quarter increase in its customer base to 1.89 million CASA customers, and all the digital properties of JFSL saw a combined monthly active user base of 7.4 million customers. We have also taken concrete steps towards securing and applying for licenses necessary for scaling up our businesses further in the near future. A positive development in the last quarter was Jio Payment Solutions Limited receiving the online payment aggregator license, which will allow it to offer payment gateway services to merchants for online commerce. On the asset management journey with BlackRock, after obtaining in-principle approval for its sponsors, JFSL and BlackRock, Jio BlackRock Asset Management Private Limited submitted an application to SEBI seeking final approval, and Jio Finance Platform and Services Limited has also filed for a third-party application provider, or TPAP license, with NPCI for the Jio Finance app.
Finally, a quick look at the financial performance. The consolidated profit after tax for Q3 FY 25 stood at ₹295 crores. Abhishek, our Group CFO, will talk you through the detailed financial performance of the company in the second half of this presentation. Moving forward, the Jio Finance app is our unified digital storefront for retail customers and a seamless, secure, and convenient platform for engaging with our financial products and services. During Q3 FY 25, the combined average monthly active users across all the digital properties of JFSL, including the Jio Finance app and our embedded offerings within the My Jio app, stood at 7.4 million users.
Across the four core financial needs of a customer, which are borrow, transact, invest, and protect, the Jio Finance App features a diverse and growing bouquet of products and services with relevance across the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras. Smart Gold, a convenient way of buying digital gold through a safe, hassle-free, and transparent process, went live on the Jio Finance App. Customers can now buy digital gold either in lump sum or through a systematic investment plan. The app also saw the launch of My Money, a personal finance manager that allows customers to track and analyze their investments and spends. During the quarter, we accelerated our targeted marketing efforts by offering tailored products to relevant customers on the My Jio app, leveraging the wide customer funnel that My Jio offers.
We also integrated exciting rewards with UPI and bill payments on our platform, which our customers received with much enthusiasm. Turning to our lending and leasing vertical, through which we cater to both retail and corporate segments, offering a diverse range of products, JFL is focused on driving loan book growth through a combination of internal synergies and external partnerships, including with the larger Jio ecosystem. For instance, JFL's home loan products are being distributed by the physical network of our group ecosystem, as well as through collaborations with external property portals and real estate developers. In the loan against shares and mutual fund segment, JFL has established channel partnerships with wealth management firms and banks to serve high-net-worth individuals through a seamless physical model.
JFL is committed to empowering customers with quick and flexible access to loans backed primarily by either property or shares and mutual funds, thereby addressing the evolving financial needs of our customers. On the payment front, our two verticals, the payment bank and payment solution company, have emerged as key layers for deep customer engagement, as well as strategic levers for creating distribution strength by leveraging the group ecosystem. JPBL's business correspondent network grew to about 7,300 BCs nationwide, with new BCs added during the quarter. This expanded network enhances JPBL's reach, particularly in rural areas, by supporting customers through an assisted digital channel. JPSL also saw significant technology enhancements during the quarter. The business has upgraded to a new, robust SaaS-based platform for payment services that will support a diversified distribution strategy. Small merchants can now be onboarded onto our payment solution platform within five minutes by leveraging AI.
A large part of our population still uses feature phones, and the integration with Jio Bharat will ensure that they don't miss out on convenient payment solutions for their small businesses just because they don't own a smartphone. For JPSL, this will translate into a much wider merchant base. Jio Insurance Broking Limited, or JIBL's product portfolio, is now complete with a range of insurance plans available from 31 leading insurance companies across all categories and through its three primary distribution channels: direct-to-customer, embedded, and ecosystem sales, and institutional sales. During the quarter, JIBL expanded its offerings by launching non-term life insurance through the direct-to-customer channel. Additionally, the number of plans available across auto, two-wheeler, health, and life insurance categories more than doubled quarter-on-quarter to a total of 54 plans.
JIBL has also co-developed and launched a range of sachet insurance products, including solar panel insurance and cyber insurance, to address specific customer needs under its embedded insurance channel. In the institutional channel, JIBL added 39 new corporate plans during the quarter and continued to witness sales momentum through a comprehensive suite of products spanning group term life, group medical cover, group personal accident, and commercial insurance. On our partnership with BlackRock for investment solutions, Jio BlackRock Asset Management Private Limited submitted its application for final regulatory approval in December 2024. Currently, we are also in advanced stages of building the senior leadership and core business teams and are working to make the technology platform and infrastructure operational. Jio BlackRock Asset Management is building a platform that will enable us to simplify the investment landscape in India while ensuring operational excellence and efficiency.
On the wealth management front, Jio BlackRock Investment Advisors Private Limited was formed in September 2024. Recruitment for the senior leadership of the wealth management company is currently underway. In conclusion, Q3 FY 25 has been a quarter of robust execution and progress across all our businesses. Our strong brand and ecosystem, a modern tech stack free of legacy data analytics capabilities, cost levers, and a strong focus on governance gives us the right to win. Our aspiration is to become one of the leading companies in financial services, both in terms of meaningful market share as well as return ratios, and the journey towards this has begun well. Thank you, and with that, I now invite Abhishek Pathak, our Group CFO, to provide a detailed overview of our financial performance for Q3 FY 25. Over to you, Abhishek.
Thank you, Hitesh. Good evening, everyone.
Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful New Year and season's greetings from all of us at JFSL. Q3 FY 25 has been a quarter of robust operational execution, with a significant increase in our NBFC loan book and the launch of new products through the Jio Finance app, our direct-to-customer digital distribution channel. In this context, we are pleased to share the financial highlights for the third quarter, and nine months ended December 31, 2024. Our financial results for this period are prepared in compliance with Ind AS, as prescribed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. This slide highlights our group structure. JFSL is a holding company which operates its financial services businesses through its customer-facing subsidiaries, JVs, and associates. With a prudent risk management framework and strong governance structures in place, these entities are supported by multi-layered products and business teams.
During the quarter, Jio BlackRock Asset Management Private Limited was incorporated as a 50/50 JV, following JFSL and BlackRock receiving in-principle approval in September 2024 to sponsor a mutual fund. JFSL and BlackRock have made an initial investment of INR 82.5 crore each in this entity. Jio BlackRock Asset Management has filed for final approval with the regulator in December 2024. In addition, JFSL and BlackRock also made an initial investment of INR three crore each in Jio BlackRock Investment Advisors Private Limited, another 50/50 JV for Wealth Management Incorporated in September 2024. Moving on to the financial performance now, JFSL's consolidated total income for the quarter was INR 449 crore versus INR 414 crore in Q3 FY 24 and INR 694 crore in Q2 FY 25.
Sequentially, total income declined as total income in Q2 FY 25 included a dividend of ₹241 crore received on the shares of Reliance Industries Limited, held by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, or RIIHL, which is an investment holding company and a wholly owned subsidiary of JFSL. The consolidated total income for Q3 FY 25 comprised the following: interest income of ₹210 crore, which includes interest earned on our loan book and income from our treasury operations, net gain on fair value changes on money market and liquid mutual funds of ₹191 crore, and fees and commission income of ₹37 crore on account of fees received by the insurance broking and the payment services businesses. With respect to our treasury operations, I would like to highlight that a prudent cash management helped us navigate a challenging market environment.
The company's total expenses, including provisions for Q3 FY 25, was ₹131 crore as compared to ₹98 crore in Q3 FY 24 and ₹146 crore in Q2 FY 25. Provisions on account of ECL increased to ₹12 crore in Q3 FY 25 from ₹4 crore in Q2 FY 25. Excluding provisions, total expenses declined on a quarterly basis. This was on account of annual CSR expense incurred in Q2 FY 25 and pre-incorporation expenses attributable to new businesses in subsidiaries and JVs. Shares of associates and joint ventures stood at ₹59 crore in Q3 FY 25 versus ₹66 crore in Q3 FY 24 and ₹225 crore in Q2 FY 25. It may be noted that in Q2 FY 25, Reliance Services and Holdings Limited, or RSHL, received dividend on its investment in RIL shares. RSHL is accounted for as an associate of JFSL.
Consolidated profit after tax in Q3 FY 25 stood at ₹295 crore versus ₹294 crore in Q3 FY 24 and ₹689 crore in Q2 FY 25. On a year-on-year basis, increase in total income was offset by higher expenses, including provisions, and lower share of associates and joint ventures. Now, moving on to our standalone financial performance, standalone total income in Q3 FY 25 was ₹148 crore versus ₹134 crore in Q3 FY 24 and ₹383 crore in Q2 FY 25. It is to be noted that in Q2 FY 25, JFSL received dividend income of ₹235 crore from RIIHL. Total expenses, including provisions for Q3 FY 25 on a standalone basis, was ₹48 crore as compared to ₹36 crore in Q3 FY 24 and ₹55 crore in Q2 FY 25. The sequential decline in expenses was mainly due to CSR expense incurred in Q2 FY 25.
On a standalone basis, the profit after tax of the company for Q3 FY 25 was INR 75 crore versus INR 71 crore in Q3 FY 24 and INR 305 crore in Q2 FY 25. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that we will continue to focus on our cost levers and aim to maintain best-in-class cost-to-income ratios, driving benefits for all our stakeholders. Thank you for your continued support as we pursue a sustainable path to value creation within the guardrails of our four guiding principles. With this, I would like to hand over the call to Jill.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you, Hitesh and Abhishek, and thank you everyone for joining this call. As we conclude our earnings call, we invite you to explore the detailed earnings presentation available on our website and the stock exchanges. Have a good one. Thank you.