Lakshmi Vilas Bank freezes at 5% lower circuit on Rs 112 crore Q1 loss

Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank were locked in the 5 per cent lower circuit band of Rs 19.7 apiece on the BSE on Friday the lender reported its April-June quarter result on Thursday post market hours. The bank reported a net loss of Rs 112 crore for the June quarter of FY21 after reporting a net profit of Rs 92.86 crore in the March quarter of FY20. In the year-ago quarter (Q1FY20), its loss was at Rs 237.25 crore. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 15 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 37,720 level at 10:37 am.

That apart, the bank said its tier 1 capital has turned negative, which prompted the auditors cast doubts if it can continue as a going concern. The tier 1 capital ratio is at a (-) 1.83 per cent, as against the minimum requirement of 8.875 per cent, limiting its ability to lend.

"The assumption of going concern is dependent upon the bank's ability to achieve improvements in liquidity, asset quality and solvency ratios, augment its capital base and mitigate the impact of Covid-19, and thus a material uncertainty exists that may cast a significant doubt on the bank's ability to continue as a going concern," chartered accountants Chandrasekar LLP said in a report submitted to the bank’s board.

The lender was put under the Reserve Bank of India's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework in September last year. Since then, it has seen a steady decline in its deposit base and rise in non-performing asset (NPA) ratios. Its gross NPA ratio jumped to 25.4 per cent at the end of June from 17.3 per cent a year ago, with the net ratio deteriorating to 9.64 per cent from 8.3 per cent over the same period.

On the managemenr front, the bank co-opted YN Lakshminarayana Murthy as Additional Director of the bank. READ EXCHANGE FILING HERE

Update on investment by Clix Capital

In an update with regards to investment by Clix Capital, the bank said it has extended the exclusivity window to complete the due-diligence in the process till September 15 in the wke of Covid-19 pandemic.

"The parties hereto have started the due diligence review and however, on account of the current pandemic and the travel restrictions, the due diligence process and inter-party discussions have suffered unexpected delays. In this regard, the Board of Directors of the Bank in their meeting held today (30th June 2020), as per the mutual understanding between parties, have extended the exclusivity till September 15th 2020 to include other post due diligence," it said in a separate filing. READ HERE

In June, the bank had received a preliminary, nonbinding letter of intent (LoI) from AION Capital-backed Clix Capital Services and Clix Finance India for a proposed capital-raising transaction. Private equity player AION Capital, through the two non-banking financial units, is set to lead the deal as it looks to buy over a 51 per cent stake for Rs 1,400-1,600 crore.