We have audited the accompanying standalone financial statements of LKP Finance Limited (“the Company”), which comprise the balance sheet as at 31 March 2025, the statement of profit and loss (including other comprehensive income), the statement of changes in equity, the statement of cash flows for the year then ended and notes to the standalone financial statements including a summary of the material accounting policies and other explanatory information (hereinafter referred to as “the standalone financial statements”).
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, except for the possible effects of matter described in the “Basis for Qualified opinion” paragraph of our report, the aforesaid standalone financial statements give the information required by the Companies Act, 2013 (“the Act”), the circulars, guidelines and directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) from time to time applicable to NBFC (“RBI guidelines”) in the manner so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the Indian Accounting Standards prescribed under section 133 of the Act read with the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015, as amended, (“Ind AS”) and other accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at 31 March 2025, its profit, total comprehensive loss, the changes in equity and its cash flows for the year ended on that date.
2. Basis for Qualified Opinion
The Company has not obtained balance confirmations / term sheets from two lenders with outstanding balances aggregating to Rs. 3,596.65 lakhs, included under borrowings. Accordingly, external confirmations as required under Standard on Auditing (SA) 505, External Confirmations, were not available for our verification. Further, the Company has not provided interest expense on the above mentioned borrowings, the amount of which is presently not ascertainable, and is not in compliance with Ind AS 109 “Financial Instruments” wherein such financial liabilities are required to be measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method. Had the interest expense been provided, the liabilities would have been higher, the net profit for the year and networth as at 31 March 2025 would have been lower to that extent. In respect of one lender, Kingfisher Finvest India Limited, with an outstanding balance of Rs. 2,122.40 lakhs, the Company received a garnishee Order from the Recovery Officer, Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Bangalore, for Rs. 2,500 lakhs plus interest. This Order was pursuant to order obtained by State Bank of India from DRT against Kingfisher Airlines Limited, United Breweries (Holdings) Limited and others. The Company has contested the claim and deposited Rs. 1,126.22 lakhs, included in other non-financial assets and mutual fund investments of Rs. 595.12 lakhs have been attached by the Recovery Officer. The matter is currently pending before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Chennai. In the absence of external confirmations, pending outcome of the legal dispute and non-provision of interest, we are unable to determine whether any adjustments or additional disclosures are required in the accompanying standalone financial statements.
Our opinion for the year ended 31 March, 2025 was also modified in respect of the above matter.
We conducted our audit of the standalone Financial Statements in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) specified under section 143(10) of the Companies Act, 2013. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the standalone financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the standalone financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the ICAI’s Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our qualified audit opinion on the standalone financial statements.
5. Key Audit Matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the standalone financial statements of the current year. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the standalone financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.
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Sr.
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Key Audit Matter
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Auditor’s Response
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1.
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Expected Credit Loss under Ind AS 109 “Financial Instruments”
The Company recognises Expected Credit Losses (ECL) on loan assets under Ind AS 109 “Financial Instruments” based on the Expected Credit Loss model developed by the Company. The estimation of expected credit loss on financial instruments involves significant judgement and estimates. Key estimates involve determining Exposure at Default (EAD) and Probability at Default (PD) using historical information. Hence, we have considered the estimation of ECL as a Key Audit Matter.
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- Assessed the accounting policy for impairment of financial assets and its compliance with Ind AS 109.
- Obtained an understanding of the Company’s Expected Credit Loss (ECL) calculation and the underlying assumptions.
- Tested the key controls over the assessment and identification of significant increase in credit risk and staging of assets.
- Sample testing of the accuracy and appropriateness of information used in the estimation.
- Tested the arithmetical accuracy of the computation of PD and also performed analytical procedures to verify the reasonableness of the computation.
- Assessed the disclosure made in relation to Ind AS 109 for ECL allowance. Further, we also assessed whether the disclosure of key judgements and assumptions are adequate.
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4. Other information
The Company’s Management and Board of Directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report but does not include the standalone financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The annual report is expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor’s report.
Our opinion on the standalone financial statements does not cover the other information and we will not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the standalone financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information identified above when it becomes available and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the standalone financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
When we read the annual report, if we conclude that there is a material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to those charged with governance and take necessary actions, as applicable under the relevant laws and regulations.
5. Management responsibility for the standalone financial statements.
The Company’s Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in Section 134(5) of the Act with respect to the preparation of these standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance (including other comprehensive loss), changes in equity and cash flows of the Company in accordance with the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS), prescribed under Section 133 of the Act, read with rules issued thereunder, the RBI guidelines and other recognized accounting principles generally accepted in India. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the standalone financial statements, the Board of Directors is responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so. The Board of Directors are responsible for overseeing the Company’s financial reporting process.
6. Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the standalone financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high
level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these standalone financial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the standalone financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal financial controls relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under section 143(3)(i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Company has adequate internal financial controls system in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the standalone financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the standalone financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the standalone financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the standalone financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
7. Report on Other Legal and Regulatory requirements
1. As required by the Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 (“the Order”) issued by the Central Government in terms of Section 143(11) of the Act, we give in the “Annexure A” a statement on the matters specified in the paragraph 3 and 4 of the Order.
2. As required by Section 143 (3) of the Act, we report that:
a) We have sought, except for the matter described in the “Basis for Qualified Opinion” paragraph above, and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of our audit.
b) Except for the effects/possible effects of the matter described in the “Basis for Qualified Opinion” paragraph above, in our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Company so far as it appears from our examination of those books.
c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other Comprehensive Income), the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flow dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account.
d) Except for the effects/possible effects of the matter described in the “Basis for Qualified Opinion” paragraph above, in our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Indian Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act, read with the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015, as amended.
e) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on 31 March 2025 taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on 31 March 2025 from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164 (2) of the Act.
f) The matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion paragraph above, in our opinion, may have an adverse effect on the functioning of the Company.
g) With respect to the adequacy ofthe internal financial controls over financial reporting of the Company and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in “Annexure B”.
h) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor’s Report in accordance with the requirements of section 197(16) of the Act, as amended;
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the remuneration paid/payable by the Company to its directors during the year is in accordance with the provisions of Section 197 of the Act.
i) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor’s Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:
i. The Company has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its standalone financial statements. (Refer note 29 of the standalone financial statements)
ii. The Company did not have any long term contracts including derivative contracts for which there were any material foreseeable losses; and
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company.
iv. (a) The management has represented,
that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, as referred in notes to the accounts, no funds have been advanced or loaned or invested (either from borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Company to or in any other persons or entities, including foreign entities (“Intermediaries”), with the understanding, whether recorded
in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary shall, whether, directly or indirectly lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Company (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries
(b) The management has represented, that,
to the best of its knowledge and belief, as referred in the notes to the accounts, no funds have been received by the Company from any persons or entities, including foreign entities (“Funding Parties”), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries; and
(a) Based on the information and details provided and other audit procedures followed, nothing has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the representations under subclause iv(a) and (b) contain any material misstatement.
v. The Company has not declared or paid any dividend during the year and has not proposed final dividend for the year.
vi. Based on our examination which included test checks, the Company has used an accounting software for maintaining its books of account which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility and the same has operated throughout the year for all relevant transactions recorded in the software. Further, during the course of our audit we did not come across any instance of audit trail feature being tampered with. Also, the audit trail has been preserved by the Company as per the statutory requirements for record retention.
For MGB & Co LLP
Chartered Accountants
Firm Registration Number 101169W/W-100035
Hitendra Bhandari
Partner
Membership Number 107832
Mumbai, 22 May 2025
UDIN: 25107832BMLLWR8472
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