Public sector banks’ corporate loans decline in Q1 as Covid, competition hurt, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Lending to the corporate sector by public sector banks declined significantly in the first quarter as Covid kept the demand depressed and competition from private sector banks and the bond market rose.

The domestic corporate loans by the State Bank of India fell 2.23 per cent to Rs 7,90,494 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to Rs 8,09,322 crore in the same quarter last year. In the fi rst quarter of FY21, SBI reported 3.41 per cent growth in corporate advances.

Union Bank of India‘s share of industry exposure in domestic advances dropped to 38.12 per cent at Rs 2,40,237 crore from 39.4 per cent at Rs 2,47,986 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Corporate loans dropped 3% at Indian Bank during the last quarter. At PNB, corporate loans fell 0.57 per cent at Rs 3,264,66 crore in June quarter 2021 compared to

Rs 3,28,350 crore a year ago.

Up to May, the gross loans to large industries declined by 1.7 per cent year­-on­year, according to RBI data.

Ceding ground of private-sector rivals

The market share of public sector banks in loans declined to around 59 per cent (of all scheduled commercial banks’ outstanding credit) in December 2020 against around 65 per cent in December 2017.

However, during this period, PvSBs market share rose to around 36 per cent from around 30 per cent, going by Reserve Bank of India data.

Falling industrial credit

The share of banks in loans to the industrial sector dropped massively during 2014-2021 even as credit to the retail sector, including home loans, saw a boom.

As per the data, industrial credit fell to 28.9% by March 2021 from 42.7% at the end of March 2014.

“Over recent years, the share of the industrial sector in total bank credit has declined whereas that of personal loans has grown,” the Reserve Bank of India said in its Financial Stability Report.

The environment for bank credit remains lacklustre in the midst of the pandemic, with credit supply muted by persisting risk aversion and subdued loan demand and within this overall setting, underlying shifts are becoming more evident than before, it said.

Loans to the private corporate sector declined from 37.6% in 2014 to 27.7% at the end of March 2021. During the same period, personal loans grew from 16.2 to 26.3%, in which housing loans grew from 8.5% to 13.8%.

Fiscal 2021

Bank credit growth to the industrial sector decelerated 0.8% year-to-date as of May 21, 2021, due to poor loan offtake from the corporate sector.

Growth in credit to the private corporate sector, however, declined for the sixth successive quarter in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal and its share in total credit stood at 28.3 per cent. RBI said the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on outstanding credit has moderated by 91 basis points during 2020-21, including a decline of 21 basis points in Q4.

Overall credit growth in India slowed down in FY21 to 5.6 per cent from 6.4 per cent in FY20 as the economy was hit hard by Covid. and subsequent lockdowns.

Credit growth to the industrial sector remained in the negative territory during 2020-21, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns. Industrial loan growth, on the other hand, remained negative during all quarters of 2020-21.”

The RBI further said working capital loans in the form of cash credit, overdraft and demand loans, which accounted for a third of total credit, contracted during 2020-21, indicating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Shift to bonds

The corporate world focused on deleveraging high-cost loans through fundraising via bond issuances despite interest rates at an all-time low. This has led to muted credit growth for banks.

Corporates raised Rs 2.1 lakh crore in December quarter and Rs 3.1 lakh crore in the fourth quarter from the corporate bond markets. In contrast, the corresponding year-ago figures were Rs 1.5 lakh crore and Rs 1.9 lakh crore, respectively.

Bonds were mostly raised by top-rated companies at 150-200 basis points below bank loans. Most of the debt was raised by government companies as they have top-rated status.

For AAA-rated corporate bonds, the yield was 6.85 per cent in May 2020, which fell to 5.38 per cent in April 2021 and to 5.16 per cent in May 2021.



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MSME loans risky even as banks transmitted rate cuts the most, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Even as banks have transmitted rate cuts most to the MSME sector and education loans during pandemic, they are still perceived to be risky. The spread over one year benchmark lending rate is highest for such loans, according to a study by RBI economists

Spreads of weighted average lending rates (WALRs) on fresh rupee loans over 1-year marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) for loans to MSME was 179 basis points (bps- one bps is 0.01 per cent) in May, factoring the median WALR at 7.28 per cent even as banks transmitted 132 bps of policy rate cuts during the pandemic between April 2020 and May 2021, analysis by the economists in a study published in the latest monthly bulletin showed. Such spread for education loan was 219 per cent and the banks transmitted 162 basis points. Put simply, even though these loans are risky, lending rates were lowered to revive activities.

“Despite the restructuring, however, stress in the MSME portfolio of PSBs remains high” noted RBI’s latest financial stability report (FSR). ” Given the elevated level of debt of the stressed cohort, the implications of business disruptions following the resurgence of the pandemic could be significant.”

” (The spreads) were uneven across sectors reflecting their varied credit risk profiles and business strategies followed by banks” the study noted. The spread was among the lowest in respect of housing loans, reflecting lower defaults and the availability of collaterals and highest for personal loans . “Personal loans (other than housing and vehicle loans) are mostly unsecured and involve higher credit risk and hence, the spread charged was the highest for other personal loans”. But in terms of transmission, personal loans were lower by only around 100 bps points during the period.

Boosted by The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) disbursements to eligible categories, net credit flow to stressed MSMEs during March 2020-February 2021 rose to Rs 50,535 crore with the shares of public sector banks and private sector banks at 54 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively, according to the latest Financial Stability Report. The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme provides 100% guarantee to banks for loan portfolio of up to Rs. 3 lakh crore to eligible MSMEs.

“Going forward, close monitoring on asset quality of MSME and retail portfolios of banks is warranted” the financial” the FSR noted.

Rating agencies have warned of balance sheet implication for banks. “The reduced dent on the balance sheet of financial institutions over the last year may deepen further in case the regulator withdraws its supportive stance to eligible segments under the retail, agriculture and MSME industry” said the July review by Brickwork Ratings.



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Bank loans to industrial sector shrink during Modi rule, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The share of banks in loans to the industrial sector dropped massively during 2014-2021 even as credit to the retail sector, including home loans, saw a boom.

As per the data, industrial credit fell to 28.9% by March 2021 from 42.7% at the end of March 2014.

“Over recent years, the share of the industrial sector in total bank credit has declined whereas that of personal loans has grown,” the Reserve Bank of India said in its Financial Stability Report.

The environment for bank credit remains lacklustre in the midst of the pandemic, with credit supply muted by persisting risk aversion and subdued loan demand and within this overall setting, underlying shifts are becoming more evident than before, it said.

Loans to the private corporate sector declined from 37.6% in 2014 to 27.7% at the end of March 2021. During the same period, personal loans grew from 16.2 to 26.3%, in which housing loans grew from 8.5% to 13.8%.

Fiscal 2021

Bank credit growth to the industrial sector decelerated 0.8% year-to-date as of May 21, 2021, due to poor loan offtake from the corporate sector.

Growth in credit to the private corporate sector, however, declined for the sixth successive quarter in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal and its share in total credit stood at 28.3 per cent. RBI said the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on outstanding credit has moderated by 91 basis points during 2020-21, including a decline of 21 basis points in Q4.

Overall credit growth in India slowed down in FY21 to 5.6 per cent from 6.4 per cent in FY20 as the economy was hit hard by Covid. and subsequent lockdowns.

Credit growth to the industrial sector remained in the negative territory during 2020-21, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns. Industrial loan growth, on the other hand, remained negative during all quarters of 2020-21.”

The RBI further said working capital loans in the form of cash credit, overdraft and demand loans, which accounted for a third of total credit, contracted during 2020-21, indicating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Shift to bonds

The corporate world focused on deleveraging high-cost loans through fundraising via bond issuances despite interest rates at an all-time low. This has led to muted credit growth for banks.

Corporates raised Rs 2.1 lakh crore in December ended quarter and Rs 3.1 lakh crore in the fourth quarter from the corporate bond markets. In contrast, the corresponding year-ago figures were Rs 1.5 lakh crore and Rs 1.9 lakh crore, respectively.

Bonds were mostly raised by top-rated companies at 150-200 basis points below bank loans. Most of the debt was raised by government companies as they have top-rated status.

For AAA-rated corporate bonds, the yield was 6.85 per cent in May 2020, which fell to 5.38 per cent in April 2021 and to 5.16 per cent in May 2021.



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Private banks close gap with public sector banks on term deposit rates

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While PSBs’ WALR on outstanding loans fell by 69 bps between February and November 2020, for private banks the rate fell 59 bps. Representative Image

As private banks gain share in the banking system’s deposit base, they have begun to close the gap with public sector banks (PSBs) in terms of how much they pay for deposits. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on bank group-wise interest rates, the difference between the weighted average domestic term deposit rates of the two sets of banks fell to three basis points (bps) in November 2020 from 32 bps in December 2019. The data also point to poor transmission of rate cuts, with the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on outstanding rupee loans declining only 69 bps between February 2020 and November 2020 even as the repo rate fell 115 bps over the same period.

Private lenders are now comfortable paying less on term deposits even as growth in this category of deposits has been slowing for them in FY21 so far. The central bank’s recent Trend and Progress Report attributed the moderation in term deposits to easing interest rates and the lure of returns on competing asset classes. “Term deposit growth of PVBs decelerated sharply even as it quadrupled in PSBs,” the report said.

Analysts attribute the downtrend in private banks’ deposit rates to a longer-term phenomenon of market share shifts. In a report dated December 16, analysts at Morgan Stanley said that one of the challenges for Indian private banks was that of funding, as they were gaining market share in loans faster than deposits.


Consequently, loan to deposit ratios were high, and private banks were paying a premium on term deposits relative to PSBs. “However, we note that large private banks have significantly accelerated pace of deposit market share gains over the past two years, and hence reduced the premium that they pay on term deposits,” the report said.
Another factor that has helped private banks lower term deposit rates is a faster accretion of low-cost deposits. Credit Suisse said in a recent report that deposit growth in Q2FY21 remained strong for private banks, with smaller private banks continuing to see strong growth post the outflows in Q4FY20, aided by higher rates being offered. “Given excess liquidity, banks have focused on growing their low-cost deposits and CASA (current account savings account) ratios have moved up for most banks,” the report said.

At the same time, private banks have also been slower to pass on rate cuts to their borrowers. While PSBs’ WALR on outstanding loans fell by 69 bps between February and November 2020, for private banks the rate fell 59 bps. Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) on Monday pointed out that the gap between outstanding and fresh lending rates has been in the range of 110-140 bps for the past nine months. Before that, it had been increasing, led by a steady decline in fresh lending rates.

Obviously, loan spreads remain quite high and a closer look at specific product segments would prove transmission to be less effective than what the headline figure suggests. “In a relatively low growth and heightened risk environment, especially after Covid, we note that the spreads have continued to remain high,” KIE said, adding, “The spread over G-Sec with deposits and loan rates has widened implying banks are seeing lower spreads on investments and better spreads on loan yields.”

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