IndusInd Bank dips 8% as it defers fund raising; down 39% so far in 2020

Shares of IndusInd Bank were down 8.6 per cent to Rs 927 on the BSE on Monday, thus falling 14 per cent in the past two trading days, after the private sector lender on Saturday announced a deferment of its plans to raise funds using additional tier-1 instruments.

The stock had hit a low of Rs 921.25 -- its lowest level since March 29, 2016 -- in intra-day trade on the BSE on Friday.

At 11:28 am, IndusInd Bank was trading 6.6 per cent lower at Rs 948, as compared to 4.3 per cent decline in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 4.8 million shares have changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE so far.

"In view of the current market conditions and since the bank is adequately capitalised at present, it has been decided not to consider raising of Basel-III compliant debt capital instruments for the time being, the bank informed the bourses late in the evening.

The board meeting scheduled for March 9 has also been deferred, it said.

Thus far in the calendar year 2020, IndusInd Bank has underperformed the market by falling 39 per cent, against 13 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock underperformed largely due to concerns over asset quality and regarding succession plan of Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

However, most brokerage houses recommended ‘buy’ rating on the stock after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as MD & CEO for a period of three years from March 24, 2020. According to brokerages, this removes a key overhang for the stock.

“The CEO transition was a major issue, and this removes a major overhang on the stock. We don’t think there will be any kitchen sinking, and the strategy formulated by the current CEO will continue. In his first public interaction with analyst community in December 2019, Mr. Kathpalia told us how he plans to focus on home markets more, tap into the non-resident Indian (NRI) community better and also tap into wealth management customers better and his entire focus is to make the balance sheet more granular,” analysts at Macquarie said in recent report.

“IndusInd Bank had witnessed elevated slippages and credit cost in 3QFY20, we expect this trend to sustain for two more quarters as some of the mid corporate / SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) loans and loans under Special Mention Account or SMA2 slip into non-performing assets (NPA). The bank also plans to increase specific NPA coverage to 60 per cent plus by March 2020,” analysts at Citi said in stock update.