Bandhan Bank Q4 profit falls 80% to Rs 103.03 crore on higher provisions

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Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 6.8%, down 129 bps from 8.1% for the last quarter of FY20. The bank said NIM in Q4FY21 was at 8.8%, excluding one time interest reversal on NPA and interest on interest.

Private sector lender Bandhan Bank on Saturday reported an 80% year-on-year fall in net profit for the quarter ending March, to Rs 103.03 crore on the back of additional provisions on non-performing assets (NPAs).

The Kolkata-based bank had posted Rs 517.28 crore net profit in the fourth quarter of FY2019-20. The lender’s total provision and contingencies during the fourth quarter of FY2020-21 rose 92.7% y-o-y to Rs 1594.30 crore from Rs 827.36 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.

During the period under review, gross NPAs as a percentage of total loans increased 569 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 6.8% from 1.11% during the third quarter last fiscal.

The bank’s proforma GNPA had stood at 7.12% in Q3FY21. During Q4FY21, net NPA ratio rose by 325 bps q-o-q at 3.51%. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD and CEO, Bandhan Bank, said a very challenging year ended on a positive note with growth and collection coming back to normalcy. “With accelerated provisioning and write off, we are now well placed as we enter FY22. We remain cautious but confident as we deal with the Covid 19 second wave,” Ghosh said.

During the fourth quarter, the bank wrote-off Rs 1930 crore worth of loans, where Rs 1876 crore was from the microfinance segment. “Our bank did not restructure any loan in the microfinance segment, while Rs 617 crore of housing finance was restructured,” Ghosh said.

In microfinance segment, the lender’s collection efficiency, including NPA and written-off borrowers, at the end of March 31, 2021, stood at 95% as against 92% at the end of December 31, 2020. At end of the last quarter of FY21, collection efficiency, excluding NPA and written-off borrowers, was 98% as per value. Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter grew 4.58% to Rs 1757.01 crore as against Rs 1,680.04 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 6.8%, down 129 bps from 8.1% for the last quarter of FY20. The bank said NIM in Q4FY21 was at 8.8%, excluding one time interest reversal on NPA and interest on interest.

During the last fiscal, total advances grew 21.2% to Rs 87,042.9 crore as against Rs 71,846 crore as on March 31, 2020.

“Our customers got experiences from the first wave of Covid. Now, they know how to deal with the pandemic situation and lockdowns. Compared to the nationwide lockdowns last year, this time we are having state-wise and region-wise lockdowns to combat Covid second wave. So, we expect this time customers’ businesses would not be impacted that much as compared to the last year,” Ghosh said, adding thus, for the bank, FY22 would be better compared to FY21.

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Bandhan Bank registers 80 per cent drop in Q4 net profit

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On the back of higher provisioning for non-performing assets, Bandhan Bank registered a nearly 80 per cent drop in net profit at ₹103 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared with ₹517 crore in the same period last year.

Provisions increased by nearly 93 per cent at ₹1,594 crore during the quarter under review compared with ₹827 crore in the same period last year.

The bank’s gross non-performing asset (NPA) as a percentage of advances increased to 6.81 per cent against 1.48 per cent in the same period last year. Sequentially, gross NPAs increased from 1.11 per cent during the quarter ended December 30, 2020. Net NPA also increased to 3.51 per cent against 0.58 per cent in the same period last year. On a sequential basis, net NPA increased from 0.26 per cent registered in December 2020 quarter.

Accounts restructuring

According to Chandrashekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO, Bandhan Bank has restructured accounts under its housing loan portfolio amounting to ₹617 crore during the quarter under the Reserve Bank of India’s one-time restructuring scheme. “We have doubled our provisions during the quarter. We have restructured housing loan accounts to the tune of ₹617 crore but we have not restructured any loans from the microfinance portfolio,” Ghosh told newspersons at a virtual press meet announcing the bank’s results on Saturday.

The board of directors of the bank has proposed a dividend of ₹1 per share for the year ended March 31, 2021.

Home loan portfolio rejig

Sunil Samdani, CFO, Bandhan Bank, said most of its home loan borrowers were self-employed customers and they requested for restructuring of home loan so as to be able to meet their cash flow requirements.

“These are our long-standing and loyal customers and a majority of the accounts restructured are standard customers and we do not anticipate any accelerated level of stress from these accounts,” he said.

Net interest income grew by around five per cent at ₹1,766 crore (₹1,680 crore).

The bank’s net interest margin (annualised) for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 stood at 6.8 per cent against 8.1 per cent same period last year.

Collection efficiency

The NIM would have been at 8.8 per cent excluding one-time reversal on account of NPA recognition and interest on interest, he said.

The bank’s collection efficiency (including write-offs and NPAs) stood at 95 per cent as on March 2021, against 92 per cent in December 2020 and 89 per cent in September 2020.

According to Ghosh, the second wave of Covid-19 has impacted collection efficiency, which has dropped by around 3-5 percentage points depending on the region. However, it is confident that the situation will improve over the next one or two months.

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HDFC Q4 net profit surges 42 per cent

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Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Ltd reported a 42.4 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at ₹3,179.83 crore for the fourth quarter of 2020-21.

Its standalone net profit was ₹2,232.53 crore in the fourth quarter of 2019-20.

For the full fiscal 2020-21, HDFC’s net profit however, declined 32.3 per cent to ₹12,027.3 crore versus ₹17,769.65 crore in 2019-20.

Also read: HDFC Bank unveils organisational changes to power future growth

“The profit numbers for the year ended March 31, 2021 are not comparable with that of the previous year. In the previous year, the corporation had recorded a fair value gain consequent to the merger of GRUH Finance with Bandhan Bank amounting to ₹9,020 crore,” HDFC said in a statement on Friday.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, HDFC reported a net interest income of ₹4,065 crore, which was 14 per cent higher compared to ₹3,564 crore in the previous year.

Net interest margin for the year ended March 31, 2021 stood at 3.5 per cent.

As at March 31, 2021, ₹4,479 crore is being restructured under the RBI’s Resolution Framework for Covid-19 related stress, amounting to 0.8 per cent of the assets under management.

Of the loans being restructured, 27 per cent are individual loans and 73 per cent non-individual loans.

Gross non-performing loans as at March 31, 2021 stood at ₹ 9,759 crore or 1.98 per cent of the loan portfolio.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2021, individual loan disbursements grew by 60 per cent over a year ago.

“The month of March 2021 witnessed the highest levels in terms individual receipts, approvals and disbursements. Growth in home loans was seen in both, the affordable housing segment as well as high-end properties,” HDFC said.

The board recommended a dividend of ₹23 per equity share of face value of ₹2 each for the financial year 2020-21.

It also approved the re-appointment of Keki Mistry as the Managing Director (designated as Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) of HDFC for a period of three years with effect from May 7, 2021, subject to approval of the members at the ensuing AGM.

Further, the board approved issuance of Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (secured or unsecured) and any other hybrid instruments (not in nature of equity shares) up to ₹1.25 lakh crore during a one year period.

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RBI’s new rule on tenure will promote younger lot at bank, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The Reserve Bank of India has put a cap on the maximum age of a bank CEO, paving the way for a younger lot to helm banks transitioning into digitalisation.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the tenure of MD, CEO and whole-time director (WTD) in a private sector bank at 15 years and prescribed the maximum age of 70 years for such functionaries.

This will lead to a change in succession planning at the banks.

The impact

Uday Kotak, the promoter MD and CEO, got reappointed on January 1, 2021, for three years. His tenure will end on January 1, 2024, and is not eligible for reappointment as he has already completed 15 years as the MD and CEO.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank CEOs have had plenty of time and can be the CEO for more than a decade as they were appointed on the post recently.

IndusInd Bank CEO Sumant Kathpalia took charge last year and can continue at the helm of affairs for more than a decade

Kamakodi, CEO of City Union Bank, will complete his 15-year tenure in May 2026, which will be two years before his retirement.

In the case of Bandhan Bank, if the RBI considers the date of conversion to bank, which is five years ago, then C S Ghosh has a long time ahead.

The upper limit of 15 years for MD and CEOs may increase the scope for a few more years at the helm for banks like DCB, Federal and RBL.

The road ahead

The provision that individual will be eligible for re­appointment as MD and CEO or whole-time director in the same bank after a minimum gap of three years, leaves an opportunity for the promoter-CEO to take the bank helm after a gap of three years

Experts say while the tenure cap benefits new age banks, which need a younger lot to steer them, the bank-promoter CEO enterprise would have an impact.

The new norms will also lead to bigger involvement of independent director and non-executive directors in the bank affairs and help in good governance and vigil. 0

The RBI directives

These directives form part of the instructions issued by the RBI with regard to the chair and meetings of the board, the composition of certain committees of the board, age, tenure and remuneration of directors, and appointment of the WTDs on Monday.

The RBI said it would come out with a Master Direction on Corporate Governance in banks in due course.

“Subject to the statutory approvals required from time to time, the post of the MD & CEO or WTD cannot be held by the same incumbent for more than 15 years.

“Thereafter, the individual will be eligible for re-appointment as MD & CEO or WTD in the same bank, if considered necessary and desirable by the board, after a minimum gap of three years, subject to meeting other conditions,” the RBI said.

It added that during this three-year cooling period, the individual shall not be appointed or associated with the bank or its group entities in any capacity, either directly or indirectly.

With regard to the upper age limit for MD & CEO and WTDs in the private sector banks, the RBI said that no person can continue on such positions beyond the age of 70 years. The banks” boards, however, will be free to prescribe a lower retirement age for the WTDs, including the MD & CEO.

The maximum age limit for chairman and non-executive directors has been fixed at 75 years.



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Goldman Sachs, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Bandhan Bank reported a steady improvement in collection efficiency to 96% in March’21 while it has not seen any major surge in top-up loans. The improvement in collection efficiency for the microfinance sector is 95% in March versus 90% in January.

“Bandhan has declared its top-up loans for a cumulative amount of Rs 3,300 crore and, based on ALM maturity data and industry checks, we estimate it has extended government guaranteed loans of about Rs 2,000 crore over 1Q-3QFY21, which together would be roughly 14% of quarterly repayment over that same time frame as well as 11.4% of quarterly disbursements (over 1Q-3QFY21),” Goldman analysts wrote in a note. Based on company data, it appears the residual maturity of the loan portfolio (ex housing) has been consistent with the past, subject to some minor changes in the maturity buckets towards longer duration, it said.

Since 1QFY19, Bandhan has collected Rs 10,300 crore on a quarterly basis, and disbursed Rs 12,700 crore (in loans excluding mortgages) quarterly. On average, ECLGS and top-up loans accounted for 14 percent of quarterly repayments over the last three quarters and 11.4 percent of quarterly disbursements (over 1Q-3QFY21).

According to loan maturity data, approximately 30% of MFI loans are collected every three months, implying an average term of nine months. The length of loans has elongated slightly over the last three quarters, with loans of more than one year duration rising by 100 bps, owing to the use of ECLGS loans, and the RBI’s moratorium, which was in effect until August.

Industry peers and Assam

Strong and long vintage client relationships have been helping Bandhan’s collection efficiency compared to other banks/MFI players, which are 10-15 percentage point lower in terms of collection efficiency.

On the Assam loan book, Goldman Sachs said Bandhan witnessed nearly 400,000 additions in the number of new loan accounts — one of the highest among banks. Bandhan’s deposit business grew 16 percent /24 percent in 2Q/3QFY21, compared to 3 percent /4 percent for other major banks, and it now has a deposit market share of 1.3 percent in Assam. Within advances, Bandhan’s credit grew 6 percent /3 percent in 2Q/3QFY21, compared to 8 percent /6 percent for other major banks, and its market share was 9.4 percent as of December 2020.

The road ahead

Bandhan’s growth over 2Q-3QFY21 came primarily from urban areas, whereas incremental advances were driven by rural areas, which shows a distinction between the deposit and loans market composition for Bandhan Bank. Other banks’ ECLGS portfolios ranged from 5-23 percent of their loan books, whereas Bandhan’s is about 4 percent of total loans.

With surging Covid cases across India, Bandhan could potentially witness headwinds to its asset quality in the near term, Goldman Sachs estimates the Rs 74,00 crore of slippages over 4QFY21 -FY22, translating to 9% of FY21 total loans (v/s 7% of 3Q loans).

According to Goldman Sachs, Bandhan will be able to leverage its strong customer relationships and market share leadership to navigate through near-term headwinds with a manageable effect and deliver a 15 percent return on equity in FY21 25% RoE in FY22.

Goldman remains bullish on Bandhan Bank based on its improving liability franchise and healthy pricing power as evidenced by its favourable cost of deposit, and superior return ratios. Downside risks include any sharp increase in virus cases, slippages in strategy execution, or any disruption in home markets, especially MFI customer acquisition or liability buildouts.



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Bandhan plans to set up hospital, university: Chandra Shekhar Ghosh

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Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, founder and mentor, Bandhan-Konnagar (File image)

Bandhan-Konnagar, a not-for-profit organisation, is currently working towards establishing a university for higher education and a hospital which will cater to all kinds of general requirements but focus more on diabetes.

“The Bandhan University will aim at creating future leaders and policymakers who will be equipped with all the skills and knowledge to create large scale social impact on the ground by serving various communities,” said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, founder and mentor, Bandhan-Konnagar.

Ghosh was speaking at a webinar, organised by Bandhan, as it celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday. Through its two decades of existence, Bandhan transformed from its original avatar Bandhan-Konnagar, an NGO, to an NBFC, and finally to a pan-India universal bank, called Bandhan Bank.

“At Bandhan, we are also working towards establishing a hospital which will cater to all kinds of general requirements but focus more on diabetes.

Initially, the hospital would cater to out-patients including complete diagnostic facility, along with daycare services,” said Ghosh, adding with experience and with demand, there was a plan to expand it to a 200-bed hospital in about five years.

Bandhan-Konnagar still exists as an NGO and is committed to running developmental interventions across healthcare, education, livelihood promotion, financial literacy and employment generation. Currently, it runs programmes across 12 states in India and employs more than 3,000 employees.

Nobel Laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, who has been associated with Bandhan for the last 15 years, spoke about his work with the organisation to assess how the latter’s Targeting the Hardcore Poor (THP) programme helped uplift the poorest of the poor by giving them access to economically productive assets. “… Thanks to Bandhan, we have been able to build a global tool for fighting poverty,” Banerjee said.

ITC chairman & managing director Sanjiv Puri said Bandhan’s journey over the last two decades embodied the true spirit of an enterprise, which should serve not only an economic purpose but also a social purpose.

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Bandhan Bank can take heart from election manifestos

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Bandhan (rated ‘buy’) can benefit.

BJP’s election manifesto for Assam doesn’t propose loan waivers, but may offer financial support to stressed borrowers & tighten collection norms. This is a positive surprise as its rival, Congress, offered waivers to micro-borrowers that raised concerns. We note that none of the parties are offering MFI waivers in West Bengal (30% of loans) & in Assam 10% loan-collection rate can improve as BJP hasn’t offered a waiver. Bandhan (rated ‘buy’) can benefit.

Assam election — Congress proposes waiver, BJP does not: Congress party has proposed to offer waivers to microloan borrowers in Assam for their loans from banks (The Hindu, 21 March). This is in line with expectations seeded since Jan-21. By contrast, the election manifesto of BJP (ruling party) does not propose any loan waivers, which is a positive surprise because in some election rallies it had indicated that it may offer a waiver. Our channel checks had indicated that BJP is a strong contender to remain in power and the mention of waivers by BJP had a bigger negative impact on collections than the mention by Congress.

BJP’s proposal for micro-borrowers in Assam: BJP’s manifesto for Assam states that it will bring about stringent laws to prevent any form of public humiliation or mental torture during recovery of loans by microfinance institutions. Moreover, it will also support the repayment of such microfinance loans, which are availed by poor women who are genuinely unable to repay. Clarity on these aspects/ new laws will be key to watch, but we expect them to be far less damaging than an explicit loan waiver.

WB elections — no waivers announced: The state of West Bengal also heads into election from end-Mar-21 with a close contest between ruling party TMC and key opposition BJP. The election manifestos of both parties were released recently and touch a range of focus areas like the economy, support to low income groups, agriculture etc. Interestingly, both parties do not explicitly propose any waiver for micro-borrowers, which should be a relief for MFIs and Bandhan Bank. Elections start end of Mar-Apr 2021; improvement in collections can offer upside risk to earnings. Earnings rebound can drive rerating. We expect Bandhan Bank’s earnings to rebound post 1HFY22 as credit costs fall from 5% of average loans in FY21 to c.2% over FY23-24 and there is an uptick in disbursements. We rate the stock Buy with price target of `470 based on 3x Mar-23 adjusted PB.

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Bandhan Bank appoints Suhail Chander and Subrata Dutta Gupta as independent additional directors, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Bandhan Bank has appointed Suhail Chander and Subrata Dutta Gupta as new directors to its board.

The two directors will join the Bank’s board as Additional Directors, with effect from March 19, 2021, up to the date of the next Annual General Meeting; and as Independent Directors for a period of three years each, with effect from March 19, 2021, subject to the approval of the bank’s shareholders.

Suhail Chander was the head of Corporate and Institutional Banking at IndusInd Bank before retiring in March 2020. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Honours Graduate in Economics from University of Delhi. He has 37 years of rich experience across Banking Operations, Trade Finance, Retail and Wholesale Banking. He is also currently on the board of Canara Robeco Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Subrata Dutta Gupta has served as the Principal Financial Officer at the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. (IFC). He has a rich experience of over 35 years in asset-backed financing, including two decades in mortgage finance and over a decade in development finance. He has also served as the Managing Director of BHW Birla Home Finance and worked with SREI International Finance in the past. Dutta Gupta is also on the Board of Joyville Shapporji Housing Finance Pvt. Ltd. as a nominee director of the Asian Development Bank.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Bandhan Bank said: “We are delighted to welcome Mr. Chander and Mr. Dutta Gupta to the Board of Directors of Bandhan Bank. As the Bank embarks upon its journey towards Vision 2025, I am confident that their guidance will help the bank further its growth journey.”



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Bandhan Bank appoints Arvind Singla as Executive President and Head – Operations & Technology, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Bandhan Bank has appointed Arvind Singla as Executive President and Head – Operations & Technology, Singla in his last role was associated with Citibank as Director & Head – Consumer Operations.

Bandhan Bank in a statement said, “Bandhan Bank has recently envisaged a five-year vision for itself where, IT transformation is a key strategic priority. Arvind, with his experience of leading customer operations, and transformation for a large bank, would be a key contributor in this journey.”

Arvind has 36 years of experience across financial institutions in transformations, banking operations, technology and customer service, he was associated wit Citibank for 19 years. At Bandhan Bank he will be based out of the bank’s headquarters in Kolkata and report to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO.

Arvind holds a PGDM from IIM Bangalore and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical & Electronics from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and CEO, Bandhan Bank, said, “I am pleased to welcome Arvind to the Bandhan Bank family. We have been adding established industry leaders to our core management team to prepare for the next phase of growth. Arvind’s extensive experience of having worked with one of the finest in the industry will give us an edge with respect to our own transformation agenda. I wish Arvind a successful and long stint at Bandhan Bank.”



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Interview | Collections in Assam to see short-term challenges, says Bandhan Bank MD Chandra Shekhar Ghosh

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Chandra Shekhar Ghosh (File image)

Bandhan Bank expects there would be challenges in the next two-three months in Assam after the lender witnessed a very sharp dip in the collection efficiency in January, says managing director and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh. In an interview with Mithun Dasgupta, Ghosh says the bank’s gross NPA ratio is not likely to rise further. Excerpts:

In Assam, Bandhan Bank’s collection efficiency in the micro credit segment had stood at 88% at the end of December. But it fell to 78% during the first 16 days of January following the state govt passing the Assam Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Bill, 2020, and talks of a possible waiver of micro loans by political parties ahead of the Assembly elections later this year. What is your exposure in the state and what is the outlook on the asset quality going ahead?

In Assam, the collection efficiency came down in the first 16 days of January. Now, it is stabilising a little bit. It shows that borrowers are willing to repay. We think there will be challenges in the next two-three months.

Total microcredit group loan in the state is around Rs 6,917 crore, which is around 8% of the bank’s total advances. The repayment rate for businessmen, who had taken loans during this pandemic, is higher in the state. We are now very conservative with regard to fresh lending.

During the third quarter, the bank’s total advances grew 22.6% year-on-year. What kind of credit growth you are expecting in the fourth quarter?

In the last quarter, the credit growth generally remains higher. Credit growth will not be less in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. We hope similar credit growth in the March quarter as well as credit demand is returning.

The number of new customers coming to take loans was higher in the December quarter of FY21 compared with the year-ago period, especially in the micro-banking segment and partly in MSMEs.

What about the home loan demand?

The demand for home loans also improved compared to the September quarter.

The gross NPA ratio during the third quarter stood at 1.11%. What is the outlook on the asset quality going forward?

The gross NPA ratio is unlikely to rise further.

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