Banks, NBFCs lose Rs 1.4-lakh cr m-cap

SBI tops list of losers, shedding Rs 23,000 cr between Jan-March 2013; HDFC Bank, ICICI follow

About 50 listed banks and non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) of the country have lost about Rs 1.43 lakh crore in their market capitalisation during the last quarter of the current financial year due to a sharp value erosion in their scrips during the period.

The estimated 14 per cent percentage loss in the market value of banking and financial non-banking companies is much higher than the overall plunge of less than eight per cent across the stock market between January and March 2013.

While two days are still left in the current financial year, the stock markets would now resume trading in the next financial year on April 1, as the next two days are trading holdings.

An analysis of stock movements of about 50 listed banks and NBFCs during the current quarter shows their cumulative market cap has plunged Rs 1,43,682 crore since January 1, 2013 to end the financial year at Rs 10.44 lakh crore.

The biggest loser among these has been state-run banking major State Bank of India, with a loss of over Rs 23,000 crore in the current quarter, followed by private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank with losses of over Rs 13,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore, respectively.

Incidentally, this three-month period saw many significant developments regarding the banking and NBFC sectors. While the Reserve Bank of India came out with its final guidelines for grant of new banking licences, a sting operation also claimed major lapses regarding the money laundering controls at three leading private banks.

Besides, financial difficulties came to the fore at some of the NBFCs, including those in the business of gold loans. Also, a number of NBFCs expressed interest in applying for new bank licenses, directly or through their groups.

All the public sector banks and NBFCs together lost more than Rs 85,000 crore of market value, followed by a loss of about Rs 33,000 crore by the private banks and Rs 25,000 crore for the private sector NBFCs, during the last quarter.

Among the PSU banks, the other major losers included Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank.

The biggest losers among the private sector NBFCs are IDFC and Reliance Capital with losses of over Rs 4,000 crore each, while L&T Finance, Bajaj Finserv, M&M Financial Services, Shriram Transport, IFCI, HDFC, Muthoot Finance and Mannapuram Finance are among the other major losers.

Among the private banks, Kotak Mahindra Bank is among the few to have actually witnessed a marginal increase in market values during this period. Others having lost value included Axis Bank, YES Bank and Karnataka Bank.

In the public sector, those having seen a significant erosion in their market values included UCO Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank, LIC Housing Finance, Union Bank of India, Rural Electrification Corp and Power Finance Corporation.