Shares of Bandhan Bank tumbled over 9% to hit a 10-month low in early trade on Monday after the private sector lender reported lower-than-expected earnings in the September quarter of the current fiscal (Q2 FY23). The banking stock plunged to ₹240.2 apiece, touching its lowest level in the calendar year 2022 (CY22), weighed down by strong volume trade.
Extending losses for the second straight session, Bandhan Bank shares opened a tad lower at ₹262, against the previous closing price of ₹265.20 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). In the first two hours of trade so far, the largecap stock declined as much as 9.4% to ₹240.2, while market capitalisation (m-cap) dropped to 38,853 crore. The counter saw a surge in selling activities with 7.56 lakh shares changing hands over the counter by 11:15 am, compared with a two-week average volume of 3.38 lakh stocks. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was trading 610 points higher at 60,569 levels at the time of reporting.
As per the data available on the BSE, Bandhan Bank share price currently trades 4.5% higher than its 52-week low of ₹229.65 touched on December 27, 2022. It hit a 52-week high of ₹349.50 on May 17, 2022.
The private sector lender has delivered a negative return of 16.5% to its shareholders in the past one year. On the year-to-date (YTD) basis, the share has dropped nearly 5%, while it shed 28.5% in the six month period. The stock remained under stress in the recent past, falling 10% in a month and 11.5% in a week.
The Kolkata-headquartered private sector lender on Friday reported a net profit of ₹209.3 crore for Q2 FY23, compared with a loss of ₹3,008.6 crore in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, the profit dropped 76.4% from ₹886.5 crore in June quarter of this fiscal (Q1 FY23).
The net interest income (NII) stood at ₹2,193 crore, up 13.3% year-on-year (YoY) from ₹1,935.4 crore reported a year back. On the quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), the NII declined 12.8% from ₹1,935.4 in June quarter.
The bank made ₹1,280 crore provisions in the September quarter, which was nearly double of the previous quarter but down 77.2% YoY from ₹5,614 crore in the year-ago period.
The lender reported improvement in asset quality, both on yearly and sequential basis. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) improved to 7.19% against 10.8% in the year-ago period and 7.25% on quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Net NPAs also declined to 1.86% compared to 3.04% in Q2 FY22 and 1.92% in Q1 FY23.
Total advances grew by 17.4% to ₹95,834.9 crore as on September 30, 2022, against ₹ 81,661.2 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total deposits also increased by 21.3% to ₹99,365.8 crore as compared to ₹81,898.3 crore as in Q1 FY22.
Commenting on the performance, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and CEO, said: “As we enter the H2 FY23, the focus shifts on growth and with pandemic related stress is phasing out, we look forward to end the FY23 on a high note.”
At the end of the September quarter, Bandhan Bank’s total banking outlets stood at 5,646. The network consists of 1,190 branches and 4,456 banking units, compared with 1,168 branches and 4,450 banking units as on September 30, 2021. Total number of ATMs stood at 432, against 487 as on September 30, 2021. During the quarter, the number of employees of the bank went up from 61,247 to 64,078.
