FPIs hike stake in SBI Cards for second quarter in a row; stock at new high

FPI holding in SBI Cards increased to 5.93 per cent in September quarter from 4.23 per cent at the end of June quarter

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) increased their stake in SBI Cards and Payment Services for second quarter in a row, buying an additional 16 million shares during July-September quarter (Q3CY20).

FPI holding in the company increased to 5.93 per cent in Q3CY20 from 4.23 per cent at the end of June quarter (Q2CY20), according to shareholding pattern disclose by the company. Foreign investors held 4.07 per cent holding in SBI Cards at the end of March quarter (Q1CY20) and 3.53 per cent as on listing day March 16, 2020. In the past six months, SBI Cards has rallied 81 per cent, as against 34 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Shares of SBI Cards and Payments rose 3 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 918.60 on the BSE on Thursday in an otherwise weak market. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.37 per cent at 40,639 points at 11:01 am.

The stock has rallied 7 per cent in the past two trading days after SBI Cards on Tuesday said it has kick-started festive season offers in line with the changing shopping trends where customers will be offered discounts as well as cashback across a host of brands.

"With over 1,000 offers across 2,000 cities, SBI Card endeavors to bring customers a rewarding shopping experience on their festive season purchases", the company said in a release.

SBI Cards is a non-banking financial company that offers extensive credit card portfolio to individual cardholders and corporate clients which includes lifestyle, rewards, travel & fuel and banking partnerships cards along with corporate cards covering all major cardholders' segments in terms of income profile and lifestyle. Presently, the brand has a wide customer base of over 10 million.

As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, monthly credit card spends have reverted back to pre-Covid levels with banks reporting Rs 50,311 crore worth of credit card spends in August 2020 compared with RS 50,574 crore in March 2020. However, this was still lower than Rs 60,011 crore seen in February 2020. ICICI Securities expect the upcoming festive season to boost credit card spends.

Meanwhile, according to Business Standard report, the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way people across the globe make payments, and especially in India. From an outright cash-based economy, India is switching to UPI (Unified Payments Interface)-based payments to avoid having physical contact. This has proven to be a blessing for SBI Card and Payment Company that got listed a week before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in the country. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT