RBL Bank shares plunge 17% as bad loans soar in Q2
Shares of RBL Bank Ltd on Wednesday slumped 17% to hit an all-time low after the lender reported a slump in profit as bad loans continued to mount and provisions soared.
The stock touched a low of 237.90 on the BSE, down 17% from its previous close. So far this year, it has declined 55%. The Sensex rose 0.1% to 39002.04 points.
RBL Bank reported a profit of 54 crore during the September quarter, against 205 crore a year ago. Provisions and contingencies surged 281.8% year-on-year to 533.30 crore during the quarter.
The bank reported a sharp deterioration in its asset quality with incremental impairment at 10% of the loan book.
While the management suggests having taken a conservative worst-case view for its slippage and credit cost guidance, according to brokerage firm SBI Cap, fiscal year 2020 forecasts build in credit costs at 250 basis points.
SBI Cap has downgraded its rating on the stock to hold, with a revised target price of 330.
Gross bad loans increased 138.63% to 1,539.10 crore during the quarter led by elevated slippages of 1,380 crore. Gross non-performing asset as a percentage of advances climbed to 2.6% from 1.4% a year ago.
“Sluggish economic environment and its chunky exposure to BBB/BB & below pool remains a concern. Strong growth in the retail operations was led by cards/MFI and robust margins do provide some cushion to its operating performance. But higher slippages and in turn, higher credit cost drives a sharp cut in our FY20/FY21 estiamtes. Thus we estimate FY20 profit after tax to decline 20% year on year before earnings begin to normalize in FY21”, said Motilal Oswal Research in a note to its investors.
Research firm Dolat Analysis & Research Themes has downgraded the stock to sell and cut its target price by 10% to 260 a share.
