Only Rs 300 cr of retail, MSMEs applied for loan recast: YES Bank

Yes Bank on Tuesday said the loan repayments performance by its retail and small business borrowers has been better than expected, and only Rs 300 crore of the Rs 60,000-crore book has applied for the COVID-19-related loan restructuring scheme.

The collection efficiencies at about 95-96 per cent right now are back to the pre-COVID-19 levels of 97 per cent, its Global Head for Retail Business Rajesh Pental told PTI.

"Only Rs 300 crore of the overall Rs 60,000 crore of the advances book have opted for loan recast till now," Pental said.

He stressed that the portfolio quality is immaculate and stable where its customer selection over the past two years has paid off. Borrowers have time till the end of December to opt for the scheme.

He said 54 per cent of borrowers by numbers had opted for moratorium which lasted till August, and an additional 5-8 per cent could not pay as well.

However, 85 per cent of the overall moratorium customers had paid at least one loan instalment during the six-month long moratorium which ended in August, and the right metric to track to understand asset quality is the collection efficiencies.

He said the collection efficiency had stood at 89 per cent in September in the first month after the moratorium and have been since increasing.

From a loan demand perspective as well, the bank is witnessing the utilisation levels which is the proportion of sanctioned credit being opted by borrowers getting back to the 60 per cent levels, he said.

The bank is targeting to increase the share of the retail and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) advances to 60 per cent of the book by the end of the calendar year 2023 as against the present level of 44 per cent, he said.

The focus will be more on loans against property (LAP) used by small businesses for working capital and affordable housing, Pental said.

He made it clear that the bank will be cautious on the mortgage products, a segment which is seeing aggressive play from its competition, and limit itself to offering loans to existing customers.

It will be more aggressive on the auto and construction equipment loans, where it has dedicated tie-ups with original equipment manufacturers for loan sourcing, he said.

The bank on Tuesday re-launched its premium banking programme for salary and self-employed segment, adding newer tailor-made offerings, with a view to deepen the relationship-based banking.

Pental said that at present, 10 per cent of its account holders will fall under the mass affluent category having average deposits of Rs 2 lakh and an overall relationship size of Rs 10 lakh with the bank, and the bank is targeting to increase this portion to 20 per cent in the future.

When asked about the Sohum Bharat Digital Payments' announcement that the bank is mulling a 9.99 per cent stake buy in the upcoming new umbrella entity (NUE) promoted by Navin Surya, Pental did not deny such discussions but did not share additional details as well.

He said the bank will be taking a decision keeping in mind what is best for its customers and stakeholders, and shall make an announcement soon.

Sector majors, including HDFC Bank and SBI (which bailed out Yes Bank earlier this year), are also in talks to launch an NUE of their own.