Swabalamban Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited earned Rs 619.76 million in the year to Ashad 2083, and its shares changed hands at Rs 695.00 at the Friday, October 2 close on NEPSE. That is a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.6 on trailing earnings per share of Rs 35.41, an earnings yield of 5.1%, and a market capitalization of about Rs 12.16 arba on 17.5 million paid-up shares of Rs 100 each. The figures come from the company's Q4 FY 2082/83 unaudited interim filings, published on its own website at swbbl.com.np, and the price from NEPSE's Friday session. Quarterly filings are unaudited and subject to restatement, which matters here more than usual, for reasons below.
That multiple sits between two very different peers. On the Q4 FY 2082/83 numbers, Chhimek Laghubitta (CBBL) trades at 26.4 times earnings and NIC Microfinance (NMBMF) at 29.4 times, while Forward Community Microfinance (FOWAD) trades at just 16.9 times. So SWBBL is cheaper than some peers on earnings, more expensive than others. The question is which comparison is the honest one, and the honest answer starts with the bad loans.
A profit line that more than doubled
The growth story is real, and it is clean. Net profit after tax climbed from Rs 280.21 million in FY 2078/79 to Rs 268.89 million, then Rs 359.78 million, Rs 442.67 million, and finally Rs 619.76 million in Q4 FY 2082/83, per the company's audited annual reports and quarterly filings as compiled from swbbl.com.np and ShareSansar's coverage. Net interest income rose from Rs 1,722.60 million to Rs 2,071.21 million over the same span, while the loan book grew from Rs 18,919.97 million to Rs 25,685.92 million and total assets from Rs 20,624.41 million to Rs 28,092.87 million. Earnings per share reached Rs 35.41 on a trailing basis, up from Rs 24.97 four years earlier.
Two things made that growth possible. First, funding got cheaper: the cost of funds fell from 8.64% in FY 2079/80 to 7.34% in Q4 FY 2082/83, per the company's reported ratios, widening the spread between what the lender pays for money and what it earns on loans. Second, impairment charges eased: loan-loss provisions fell from Rs 739.18 million in FY 2078/79 to Rs 289.57 million in the latest twelve months. When a lender stops charging as much for bad loans and pays less for funding, profits can double even while the underlying credit quality barely moves. That is exactly what happened here.
The meter that would not fall
The non-performing loan ratio reads like a flat line drawn high: 2.90% in FY 2078/79, then 8.66%, 7.92%, 9.49%, and 8.92% in the latest quarter, per the company's reported ratios in its filings and ShareSansar's quarterly coverage. Profits more than doubled while the bad-loan meter stayed stuck in the 8 to 12% band. In absolute terms, with Rs 25,685.92 million of loans outstanding, an 8.92% NPL ratio means roughly Rs 2.29 billion of the loan book is not performing, a figure that dwarfs the year's Rs 619.76 million profit.
The peer table sharpens the point rather than settling it. CBBL earns Rs 35.91 per share, almost identical to SWBBL's Rs 35.41, yet carries an NPL of only 2.30% and trades at 26.4 times earnings: the market pays up for clean asset quality. FOWAD is the mirror image, earning Rs 52.14 per share with an NPL of 16.17% and trading at just 16.9 times. SWBBL's 19.6 multiple sits between them, which means the market has neither fully priced in the NPL problem nor fully forgiven it. NUBL at 46.8 times and SKBBL at 57.5 times show how wide the spread gets when earnings are thin relative to price.
Thin capital, cheaper money
The capital cushion is narrow and has been narrowing. The capital adequacy ratio fell from 13.47% (unaudited Q4, FY 2078/79) to 11.78%, 11.93%, 11.56% (unaudited Q4), and now 11.39% in Q4 FY 2082/83, per the company's disclosures. Microfinance institutions in Nepal operate under NRB capital floors, and while SWBBL stays above them, the direction is the one lenders and their investors watch: profits are growing the balance sheet faster than retained capital is rebuilding the buffer. Deposits of Rs 18,086.38 million and borrowings of Rs 5,413.14 million fund a Rs 25,685.92 million loan book, which is leverage doing exactly what leverage does, amplifying both the profit growth and the asset-quality risk.
Book value offers the other side of the pricing. Net worth per share stood at Rs 241.91 in the Q4 FY 2082/83 filing, putting the price-to-book ratio at 2.87 times. That is a premium to net worth, not a discount, and it means Rs 695.00 is pricing in growth that the current bad-loan trajectory has not yet delivered.
Bonuses, never rights
The dividend history tells its own story about how this company grows. For FY 2078/79 it paid 15% bonus shares plus 6.05% cash; for FY 2079/80, 12.3599% bonus plus 0.6505% cash; for FY 2080/81, 14.25% bonus plus 0.75% cash; and for FY 2081/82, 10% total, split as 5.6365% bonus and 4.3635% cash with book close on 2025-12-28, per ShareSansar's company record at sharesansar.com/company/swbbl. Paid-up capital marched from Rs 1,122.17 million to Rs 1,750.00 million almost entirely through bonus issues. The company has never issued a rights offering and has never split its shares. Bonus-heavy dividends grow the share count without raising fresh capital, which is why earnings per share growth has lagged profit growth: the pie gets bigger, but it is cut into more slices each year.
What the files do not yet say
Several items sit outside what the filings confirm. No credit rating exists for SWBBL from ICRA Nepal, CARE Ratings Nepal, or Infomerics; none of the three agencies lists the company as a rated entity. The 466th board meeting (Kartik 21, 2082) proposed a Rs 50 crore unsecured 8% debenture, which would normally trigger a first-ever rating, but neither regulatory approval nor an actual issuance has been confirmed in any public source found. The FY 2081/82 audited capital adequacy ratio was never disclosed separately from the unaudited Q4 figure of 11.56%, because the audited annual report PDF was published as a scanned image with no text layer. And one report needs a second source before it can be stated as fact: media coverage, currently single-sourced, says Nepal Rastra Bank issued a formal warning to SWBBL's CEO on June 30, 2026 over roughly Rs 815.5 million of loan-loss provisions recognized as income. It is reported and unverified, and it stays in that box until a second source confirms it.
The unresolved question
Put the two pictures together and the tension is plain. On one side: a lender that grew net interest income to Rs 2,071.21 million, more than doubled net profit in four years, funds itself more cheaply than it did three years ago, and pays shareholders a steady stream of bonus-heavy dividends. On the other: a bad-loan ratio of 8.92% that has barely moved in five years, a capital adequacy ratio drifting down to 11.39%, and a price of Rs 695.00 that pays 2.87 times book value for earnings built on unaudited interim filings.
Either the 19.6 multiple is the right price for an earnings stream that has proved it can grow through a bad-loan cycle, in which case the market is paying for resilience, or the NPL meter is telling the truth about the loan book and the earnings quality is thinner than the headline number suggests. The Q4 FY 2082/83 filings give you the numbers with unusual clarity. They do not tell you which story is right. The audited annual report, and the next few quarters of asset quality, will.
A note on what is verified here. Every figure above comes from a named source: SWBBL's audited annual reports and Q4 quarterly filings published at swbbl.com.np (profit after tax Rs 280.21 million through Rs 619.76 million, net interest income, loan book Rs 25,685.92 million, assets Rs 28,092.87 million, deposits Rs 18,086.38 million, NPL 2.90% through 8.92%, CAR 11.39%, EPS Rs 35.41, cost of funds 7.34%, and all dividend and paid-up capital figures), ShareSansar's SWBBL company page for the FY 2081/82 dividend record and book-close date, BeemaPost's coverage of the FY 2081/82 annual results, and NEPSE's Friday October 2, 2026 session for the Rs 695.00 close. Peer multiples are computed from the Q4 FY 2082/83 fundamentals dataset on the same basis. Research input was compiled by Bruno Research; the gap list, including the unconfirmed debenture approval, the missing audited CAR, and the single-sourced NRB warning note, is part of that work. No discounted cash flow, no price target, and no buy, sell, or hold call appears here by design.
This article is published for research and education purposes only. It is not investment advice, and nothing here should be read as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Figures reflect publicly reported information at the time of writing; quarterly figures are unaudited and annual figures may be restated. Valuation sketches are illustrative. Always read the company's own filings and consult a licensed advisor before investing.
Frequently asked questions
What is SWBBL's P/E ratio?
On trailing-twelve-month earnings per share of Rs 35.41 from the Q4 FY 2082/83 filing and the October 2, 2026 close of Rs 695.00, SWBBL's P/E is 19.6. That sits between peers: FOWAD at 16.9 times on the low end, CBBL at 26.4 times, NMBMF at 29.4 times, and NUBL at 46.8 times.
What is SWBBL's NPL ratio?
8.92% of the loan book in Q4 FY 2082/83, per the company's reported ratios. The arc over five reporting periods is 2.90%, 8.66%, 7.92%, 9.49%, then 8.92%: elevated and barely moving while profits more than doubled.
Does SWBBL pay dividends?
Yes, with a bonus-heavy mix. For FY 2081/82 the company paid 10% total, 5.6365% as bonus shares and 4.3635% as cash, with book close on 2025-12-28 per ShareSansar's company record. Earlier years paid 21.05%, 13.01%, and 15% in declining-then-recovering totals. It has never issued a rights offering.
What is SWBBL's market capitalization?
About Rs 12.16 arba: 17.5 million paid-up shares of Rs 100 each at the October 2, 2026 close of Rs 695.00. Book value per share was Rs 241.91 in the Q4 FY 2082/83 filing, giving a price-to-book ratio of 2.87 times.
Does SWBBL have a credit rating?
None was found from ICRA Nepal, CARE Ratings Nepal, or Infomerics. The board's proposed Rs 50 crore 8% unsecured debenture would normally trigger a first-ever rating, but regulatory approval has not been confirmed in any public source found.
Who researched this company analysis?
The underlying financial compilation was done by Bruno Research across five reporting periods, from the company's audited annual reports and quarterly filings, with every metric source-tagged. This article reads those numbers against NEPSE pricing and peer multiples for educational purposes.