‘Incorrect’: Yes Bank junks reports of 51% stake sale; shares up 2%

Private lender Yes Bank shares surged 2% today after the bank clarified on media reports regarding the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval for around 51% stake sale in the lender.

In a stock exchange filing today, Yes Bank said the contents of the said report are "factually incorrect and purely speculative in nature". It said the RBI had not given any in-principle approval as stated. "This clarification is issued by the Company voluntarily to dispel the baseless media article. We have been and will keep the Stock Exchanges informed of any material events as required under Regulation 30 of the Listing Regulations," the bank says.

Notably, a media report on Monday suggested that Yes Bank had received in-principle approval from the central bank to sell up to 51% stake. However, Yes Bank junked the report, saying no such approval had been granted. Four years ago in March 2020, the RBI took over the bank after its gross NPAs hit 16.8% its short-term payment ability dipped drastically.

Amid the development, shares of Yes Bank today opened a gap up and hit the day's high at ₹26.42 on the BSE, down 19.4% from its 52-week high of ₹32.81 touched on February 9, 2024. At the current share price, the company's m-cap stands at ₹81,629.40 crore. Yes Bank share has seen a 52.73% rise in the past year, along with a 14.97% surge in the calendar year. In the past six months, one month and the past week, the scrip has seen 7.60%, 9.09%, and 8.27% rise, respectively.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2024, YES Bank reported a net profit of ₹452 crore, up 123.2% against ₹202 crore in the same period last year. Sequentially, the profit was up 95.2% from ₹231 crore in the December quarter of FY24. The net interest income (NII) grew 2.3% to ₹2,153 crore in Q4 FY24 compared to ₹2,105 crore in the corresponding period last year.

On the asset quality front, the gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) improved to 1.7% from 2% in Q3 FY24 and 2.2% in Q4 FY23. The net non-performing assets (NNPAs) also declined to 0.6% from 0.9% in the previous quarter and 0.8% in the same period last year.

The balance sheet of the bank crossed 4 lakh crore during the March quarter, driven by deposit accretion (up 22.5% YoY and 10.1% Q-o-Q) and net advances growth at 13.8% YoY, aided by sustained growth momentum in SME and Mid corporate advances (at 25%+ YoY) and resumption of growth in corporate segment.