Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Imagine this. You have a younger sibling you’re mighty envious of. And why not? Unlike you, they seem to enjoy all the freedom and money in the world. They party like there’s no tomorrow, and here you are, stuck in a boring, ultra-disciplined but responsible routine that feels completely devoid of any independence, and mostly, funds. But of late, things are changing. This sibling is in massive trouble and just cannot escape the parent’s wrath anymore. Long story short, the party is over, and it is time to go back home. The rising defaults on this sibling’s part have now begun pulling the entire house down, thereby attracting the regulator’s ire. <h2>The Wild West of microfinance and unsecured loans</h2>It's hard to ignore the issues with microfinance and unsecured loans in India. Many saw them as a small gamble and ignored the rising defaults much like the younger siblings’ tantrums, and now they find themselves in hot waters. The skyrocketing instances of non-payments aren't a micro-issue anymore and are threatening the stability of the entire banking system. In the quarter ended September 30, 2024, 5 of India’s 8 largest private sector <keyword id="19934118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="keywords">banks</keyword> reported a steep rise in their bad loan book, mostly thanks to microfinance loans. Some banks, in a bid to strengthen their fortress against these <keyword id="142154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bad-loans" source="Orion">bad loans</keyword>, have significantly upped their provisions. For instance, <keyword id="46717" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IndusInd-bank" source="Orion">IndusInd Bank</keyword> set aside Rs 525 crore during July and September 2024 to battle the menace of defaults on microfinance loans, which make up about 9% of its total loan book. See, banks rely heavily on their interest income, which they earn from advancing loans. Any loan where the borrower has not paid interest to the bank or defaulted for 90 days or more becomes bad, i.e., an <keyword id="79363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="npa" source="Orion">NPA</keyword>, or non-performing asset for the bank. And who likes things going bad? Simply put, there has been a steep rise in three areas, much to the dislike of banks and MFIs (micro-finance institutions). But hey, it's mostly their doing! <ol><li>GNPA ratio (gross net performing assets): The quantum of non-performing assets a bank has in proportion to its total assets.</li><li>Provision: The amount banks set aside to take care of such NPAs.</li><li>Slippage ratio: The rate at which good girls go bad, or the speed at which good loans turn into NPAs</li></ol>But how are these plaguing the Indian banking sector? And what does the road ahead look like? We decode it for you. <h2> Microfinance: A not-so-micro-menace</h2>Microfinance loans were initially brought forth for low-income households and individuals, i.e. for those who might not generally have access to traditional ways of credit, like bank loans and more. They don’t require collateral or an asset to be pledged in lieu of the loan, making it a tad bit easier for borrowers. As of June 2024, the amount of outstanding loans in the microfinance industry stood at a staggering Rs 4,20,256 crore. Of this, NBFC-MFIs accounted for 40% and banks made for 33% of these. In 2022, <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI" source="Orion">RBI</keyword>, in a bid to inspire some competition in this space, did something radical-they did away with the ceiling on how much interest MFIs could charge their customers. Previously, MFIs could add up to 12% to their cost of acquiring funds to determine the final interest rate chargeable to the consumer. So, assuming that Bank A incurs a 5% cost to acquire funds for further loaning, A could charge up to 17% interest from the end consumer. So, interest rates were in the hands of MFIs, and boy, did they have a gala time with it. Instead of spurring some healthy competition, as RBI expected, MFIs and banks went rogue and all guns blazing, competing for the title of “Who will charge the highest interest?” Recently, RBI banned 4 microfinance institutions (MFIs), namely Asirvad Micro Finance Limited, Arohan Financial Services Limited, DMI Finance Private Limited, and Navi Finserv, from disbursing loans effective October 21, 2024. Why? Because they were charging 14% extra interest over their original cost of funds. To maintain their loan books (and pockets), banks and NBFCs resorted to shady practices like netting off loans, which RBI has now advised MFIs against. Here, lenders allow borrowers to settle a previous outstanding loan by issuing them a new loan! As crazy as it sounds, it helped banks to report less of their total assets as NPAs, since the new credit would cover pending installments of the borrower’s previous loan. Then there was the issue of borrowers overleveraging, i.e. taking multiple loans using different IDs from various lenders and then failing to honor any of them. The consequence? Banks and NBFCs end up with massive NPAs. Data from credit bureaus suggests that over the last quarter, there was a 17.2% rise in the number of borrowers who had 5 or more active loans at the same time. <h2>Growth &gt; Caution</h2>It's an age-old tale unfolding yet again in India’s banking sector- Icarus flew too close to the sun and eventually, fell to its death. Between April and June 2024, NBFCs microfinance portfolio jumped by 2.7%. If you see this in terms of loan sources, microfinance loans issued by banks grew by 11.2% in Q1FY25. But the same portfolio in NBFCs swelled by almost double-23.9%. While most of these loans had an average ticket size between Rs 30,000-50,000, there was a sharp spike in the number of loans that had a ticket size of Rs 80,000 or more. Data suggests that as of March 2024, more than 12% of all microfinance borrowers had over 4 or more active loans. In dating parlance, this is a classic case of borrowers going polyamorous, minus the honesty and transparency. Not the best of situations, you'd agree! <h2>Will banks and NBFCs stand up to this stress?</h2>If their results for Q2FY25 are to be believed, NBFCs are not handling the pressure all that well. Or even slightly well. Only a few banks like Bank of Baroda (BoB), ICICI, and Indian Bank were up for the battle, even witnessing a decline in their loan delinquencies. Some others, like IndusInd Bank, saw their stock dip by a massive 16.2% over the last 5 days. Its slippages in the previous quarter burgeoned from Rs 15.3 billion in Q1FY25 to Rs 17.9 billion in Q2. As a result, the bank pushed a staggeringly high amount of money to create an NPA cushion for itself. While its management has highlighted its preference for secured lending, that was hardly reflected in its actions during the quarter, where growth in unsecured personal loans remained exceptionally high at over 7% on a QoQ basis. Turns out, only 44% of customers in IndusInd Banks’ microfinance loan portfolio were exclusive to it. The rest 47% were, you guessed it right-polyamorous! 27% had borrowed from another lender as well, apart from IndusInd Bank, while 20% were those who had outstanding loans with two other lenders, apart from IndusInd Bank. IndusInd Bank’s credit card segment did not miss the NPA bus and accounted for 7-8% of its GNPAs. Canara Bank’s total slippages during the previous quarter jumped to Rs 11.1 billion, up by 24.7% QoQ, and making up for 3.6% of its total loans. As for Bandhan Bank, its <keyword id="763994" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gross-NPA" source="Orion">gross NPA</keyword> for Q2FY25 inched up on a QoQ basis, up from 4.23% in Q1, to 4.68% in the second quarter. <keyword id="62152" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IDFC-bank" source="Orion">IDFC Bank</keyword>’s heavy provisioning for its NPAs marred its profits significantly, causing its PAT (profit after tax) to dip by 73% on a YoY basis. Data from ICRA Analytics suggest that the AUM (asset under management) growth in microfinance loans and unsecured (personal and business) loans by the NBFCs will moderate to 10-12% and 19-21%, respectively, in FY2025 compared to 30% and 38%, in FY2024. Says A M Karthik, Senior Vice President &amp; Co-Group Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, “As bank funds constitute a larger share in the overall funding of NBFCs, a slower credit flow from banks to the NBFCs will compress their AUM growth. The NBFCs in unsecured and digital lending businesses shall face a higher squeeze in funding compared to others, and the unsecured lending space will continue to be a source of stress in the near term.” There has been uninhibited growth in unsecured loans, apart from just the microfinance segment. For instance, Axis Bank’s gross slippages jumped by Rs 4,443 crore, largely thanks to its unsecured business. The same is the case with Yes Bank, which saw 35–40% of its retail slippages emerging from the unsecured loan portfolio. Kotak Mahindra Bank was also quick to follow Yes Bank’s suit, with around 35%-40% of its slippages coming from credit cards. <h2>How is the road ahead?</h2>While RBI has just cracked its whip and served a warning at the moment, experts at Morgan Stanley believe that more changes (read regulatory lashes) are underway. Moreover, with both festive and wedding seasons underway in our country, unsecured lending might pick up momentum, much to the disdain of the calibrated approach banks have been taking towards it so far. But if the situation doesn't improve, RBI will not waste any time in becoming the typical tyrannical Bollywood headmaster who runs his dominion with an iron fist and takes things (and ceiling rates) into their own hands. However, that's a story for another day.

Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

<div type="image" title="The RBI has cracked the regulatory whip on NBFCs and banks, who&amp;#39;ve been pushing microfinance and unsecured loans aggressively to grow their loan books." agency="ANI" msid="114778648" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The RBI has cracked the regulatory whip on NBFCs and banks, who&amp;#39;ve been pushing microfinance and unsecured loans aggressively to grow their loan books.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Imagine this. You have a younger sibling you’re mighty envious of. And why not? Unlike you, they seem to enjoy all the freedom and money in the world. They party like there’s no tomorrow, and here you are, stuck in a boring, ultra-disciplined but responsible routine that feels completely devoid of any independence, and mostly, funds. But of late, things are changing. This sibling is in massive trouble and just cannot escape the parent’s wrath anymore. Long story short, the party is over, and it is time to go back home. The rising defaults on this sibling’s part have now begun pulling the entire house down, thereby attracting the regulator’s ire. <h2>The Wild West of <keyword id="113684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microfinance" source="Orion">microfinance</keyword> and unsecured loans</h2>It's hard to ignore the issues with microfinance and unsecured loans in India. Many saw them as a small gamble and ignored the rising defaults much like the younger siblings’ tantrums, and now they find themselves in hot waters. The skyrocketing instances of non-payments aren't a micro-issue anymore and are threatening the stability of the entire banking system. In the quarter ended September 30, 2024, 5 of India’s 8 largest private sector <keyword id="19934118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="keywords">banks</keyword> reported a steep rise in their bad loan book, mostly thanks to microfinance loans. Some banks, in a bid to strengthen their fortress against these <keyword id="142154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bad-loans" source="Orion">bad loans</keyword>, have significantly upped their provisions. For instance, IndusInd Bank set aside Rs 525 crore during July and September 2024 to battle the menace of defaults on microfinance loans, which make up about 9% of its total loan book. See, banks rely heavily on their interest income, which they earn from advancing loans. Any loan where the borrower has not paid interest to the bank or defaulted for 90 days or more becomes bad, i.e. an NPA, or non-performing asset for the bank. And who likes things going bad? Simply put, there has been a steep rise in three areas, much to the dislike of banks and MFIs (micro-finance institutions). But hey, it's mostly their doing! <ol><li>GNPA ratio (gross net performing assets): The quantum of non-performing assets a bank has in proportion to its total assets.</li><li>Provision: The amount banks set aside to take care of such NPAs.</li><li>Slippage ratio: The rate at which good girls go bad, or the speed at which good loans turn into NPAs</li></ol>But how are these plaguing the Indian banking sector? And what does the road ahead look like? We decode it for you. <h2> Microfinance: A not-so-micro-menace</h2>Microfinance loans were initially brought forth for low-income households and individuals i.e. for those who might not generally have access to traditional ways of credit, like bank loans and more. They don’t require collateral or an asset to be pledged in lieu of the loan, making it a tad bit easier for borrowers. As of June 2024, the amount of outstanding loans in the microfinance industry stood at a staggering Rs 4,20,256 crore. Of this, NBFC-MFIs accounted for 40% and banks made for 33% of these. In 2022, RBI, in a bid to inspire some competition in this space, did something radical-they did away with the ceiling on how much interest MFIs could charge their customers. Previously, MFIs could add up to 12% to their cost of acquiring funds to determine the final interest rate chargeable to the consumer. So, assuming that Bank A incurs a 5% cost to acquire funds for further loaning, A could charge up to 17% interest from the end consumer. So, interest rates were in the hands of MFIs, and boy, did they have a gala time with it. Instead of spurring some healthy competition, as RBI expected, MFIs and banks went rogue and all guns blazing, competing for the title of “Who will charge the highest interest?” Recently, RBI banned 4 microfinance institutions (MFIs), namely Asirvad Micro Finance Limited, Arohan Financial Services Limited, DMI Finance Private Limited, and <keyword id="20117932" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="navi-finserv" source="keywords">Navi Finserv</keyword> from disbursing loans effective October 21, 2024. Why? Because they were charging 14% extra interest over their original cost of funds. To maintain their loan books (and pockets), banks and NBFCs resorted to shady practices like netting off loans, which RBI has now advised MFIs against. Here, lenders allow borrowers to settle a previous outstanding loan by issuing them a new loan! As crazy as it sounds, it helped banks to report less of their total assets as NPAs, since the new credit would cover pending instalments of the borrower’s previous loan. Then there was the issue of borrowers overleveraging, i.e. taking multiple loans using different IDs from various lenders and then failing to honour any of them. The consequence? Banks and NBFCs end up with massive NPAs. Data from credit bureaus suggests that over the last quarter, there was a 17.2% rise in the number of borrowers who had 5 or more active loans at the same time. <h2>Growth &gt; Caution</h2>It's an age-old tale unfolding yet again in India’s banking sector- Icarus flew too close to the sun and eventually, fell to its death. Between April and June 2024, NBFCs microfinance portfolio jumped by 2.7%. If you see this in terms of loan sources, microfinance loans issued by banks grew by 11.2% in Q1FY25. But the same portfolio in NBFCs swelled by almost double-23.9%. While most of these loans had an average ticket size between Rs 30,000-50,000, there was a sharp spike in the number of loans that had a ticket size of Rs 80,000 or more. Data suggests that as of March 2024, more than 12% of all microfinance borrowers had over 4 or more active loans. In dating parlance, this is a classic case of borrowers going polyamorous, minus the honesty and transparency. Not the best of situations, you'd agree! <h2>Will banks and NBFCs stand up to this stress?</h2>If their results for Q2FY25 are to be believed, NBFCs are not handling the pressure all that well. Or even slightly well. Only a few banks like Bank of Baroda (BoB), ICICI, and Indian Bank were up for the battle, even witnessing a decline in their loan delinquencies. Some others, like IndusInd Bank, saw their stock dip by a massive 16.2% over the last 5 days. Its slippages in the previous quarter burgeoned from Rs 15.3 billion in Q1FY25 to Rs 17.9 billion in Q2. As a result, the bank pushed a staggeringly high amount of money to create an NPA cushion for itself. While its management has highlighted its preference for secured lending, that was hardly reflected in its actions during the quarter, where growth in unsecured personal loans remained exceptionally high at over 7% on a QoQ basis. Turns out, only 44% of customers in IndusInd Banks’ microfinance loan portfolio were exclusive to it. The rest 47% were, you guessed it right-polyamorous! 27% had borrowed from another lender as well, apart from IndusInd Bank, while 20% were those who had outstanding loans with two other lenders, apart from IndusInd Bank. IndusInd Bank’s credit card segment did not miss the NPA bus and accounted for 7-8% of its GNPAs. Canara Bank’s total slippages during the previous quarter jumped to Rs 11.1 billion, up by 24.7% QoQ, and making up for 3.6% of its total loans. As for Bandhan Bank, its gross NPA for Q2FY25 inched up on a QoQ basis, up from 4.23% in Q1, to 4.68% in the second quarter. IDFC Bank’s heavy provisioning for its NPAs marred its profits significantly, causing its PAT (profit after tax) to dip by 73% on a YoY basis. Data from ICRA Analytics suggest that the AUM (asset under management) growth in microfinance loans and unsecured (personal and business) loans by the NBFCs will moderate to 10-12% and 19-21%, respectively, in FY2025 compared to 30% and 38%, in FY2024. Says A M Karthik, Senior Vice President &amp; Co-Group Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, “As bank funds constitute a larger share in the overall funding of NBFCs, a slower credit flow from banks to the NBFCs will compress their AUM growth. The NBFCs in unsecured and digital lending businesses shall face a higher squeeze in funding compared to others, and the unsecured lending space will continue to be a source of stress in the near term.” There has been uninhibited growth in <keyword id="6051027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unsecured-loan" source="Orion">unsecured loan</keyword>s, apart from just the microfinance segment. For instance, Axis Bank’s gross slippages jumped by Rs 4,443 crore, largely thanks to its unsecured business. The same is the case with Yes Bank, which saw 35–40% of its retail slippages emerging from the unsecured loan portfolio. <keyword id="6376194" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kotak-mahindra" source="Orion">Kotak Mahindra</keyword> Bank was also quick to follow Yes Bank’s suit, with around 35%-40% of its slippages coming from credit cards. <h2>How is the road ahead?</h2>While RBI has just cracked its whip and served a warning at the moment, experts at Morgan Stanley believe that more changes (read regulatory lashes) are underway. Moreover, with both festive and wedding seasons underway in our country, unsecured lending might pick up momentum, much to the disdain of the calibrated approach banks have been taking towards it so far. But if the situation doesn't improve, RBI will not waste any time in becoming the typical tyrannical <keyword id="19897820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="keywords">Bollywood</keyword> headmaster who runs his dominion with an iron fist. However, that's a story for another day. Do you have a topic in mind you'd want a simpler explanation for, or insights or personal experience to share on personal finance and more? Contact us at businessinsider@timesinternet.in.

Simply Put: Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

The Indian <keyword id="22196321" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="credit-card-industry" source="keywords">credit card industry</keyword> is struggling to grow, as new issues slow down on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. Not only has the growth i.e. issuance of new credit cards slowed down, but lenders are also becoming increasingly cautious of the asset qualities, a recent report by Nomura showed. From 19% in July 2024, the growth in the <keyword id="6368202" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="credit-card" source="Orion">credit card</keyword> spendings came down to 13% in August 2024. The year-to-date (YTD) growth has also significantly declined in FY25, currently standing at 17%, markedly down from 28% in FY24. For the fifth consecutive month, the number of new credit cards added to the system remained well below the 1-million, or 10 lakh mark. Around 9.2 lakh credit cards were added during the month, a slight uptick from the 7.55 lakh cards that came into the system In July 2024. However, there is growth in this space nevertheless, with about 10.55 crore active credit cards at present, marking a 15.6% YoY increase. Even the annualised spend per card, or the average amount spent via an annual card during an year grew 1% YoY to Rs 1.87 lakh. But this was far less than the 7% growth annual spends via one credit card saw in FY24. Meanwhile, what continues to burgeon consistently is the outstanding amount on these credit cards, which ballooned to Rs 2.7 lakh crore in June 2024, up from Rs 2.6 lakh crore in March 2024, and around Rs 2 lakh crore in the year ago period. To put this in perspective, pre-pandemic, the total outstanding amount stood at Rs 87,686 crore, which marks a 24% CAGR in this amount, in just a span of 5 years. <h2>Large drops, slowdown to sustain</h2>Even the monthly expenditure per card dropped 2% YoY to Rs 16,000 in August, 2024. Subsequently, the transaction volume via credit cards also dipped to 1.6% in August, along with the total amount of <keyword id="21084888" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="credit-card-spending" source="keywords">credit card spending</keyword>, which fell to Rs 1.69 lakh crore in August, from Rs 1.73 lakh crore in July. Also, there has been a hefty cutdown in provisions made for credit card reward points, which reflects in the quantum of credit card benefits that have been mowed out by companies of late, making credit cards far less lucrative than before. <h2>HDFC takes lead </h2>During August 2024, <keyword id="19895995" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC-Bank" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="HDFC Bank" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="HDFC Bank">HDFC bank</keyword> added a total of 2.41 lakh credit cards, taking its total tally of active credit cards to 2.19 crore. <keyword id="19900482" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Bank" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ICICI Bank" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="ICICI Bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> came a second distant, adding 1.45 lakh credit cards during the month, which means that the second-largest credit card issuer now holds over 1.75 crore active credit cards. Axis Bank and SBI Cards also added 1.27 lakh and 1.1 lakh cards, respectively to their repertoire during the month, while the growth numbers at Kotak Mahindra Bank remained largely flat, stagnating the bank's total card tally at 54.13 lakh. This was due to the ongoing ban on the bank due to its weak IT infrastructural issues imposed by RBI in April 2024. If anything, the bank's number of credit cards declined by 61,191 during the month. Even as the festive season approaches, experts think that it is unlikely to make a major dent in credit card spendings, which are expected to see a further slowdown in the quarters to come.

Credit card growth experiencing a slowdown, as borrowers struggle to pay back loans

<ul><li>Net interest income grows 21% year-on-year and 6% sequentially </li><li>Net interest margins hit a 20-quarter high of 3.6%, but lags peers </li><li>The bank’s asset quality also showed an improvement during the quarter, with fresh accretion of slippages declining </li></ul><keyword id="6355975" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="axis-bank" source="Orion">Axis Bank</keyword>, the third largest private sector bank, on Monday reported a net profit of ₹4,125 crore in the opening quarter of FY23, a jump of 91% annually but remained flat sequentially. While the bank has beaten street estimates, its business growth momentum has come in lower than its peers. The bank’s key financial parameters showed improvement with net interest income clocking a growth of 21% year-on-year and 6% sequentially, as net interest margins improved by 14 bps annually and 11 bps sequentially to 3.60% during the quarter. This bank’s margins have hit a 20-quarter high. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Citi merger: ‘Customer experience has to hassle free’" comment="subhead" text="Citi merger: ‘Customer experience has to hassle free’">Citi merger: ‘Customer experience has to hassle free’</cmsannotation> Speaking on the merger with <keyword id="6400347" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="citibank" source="Orion">Citibank</keyword>, <keyword id="247960" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="amitabh-chaudhry" source="Orion">Amitabh Chaudhry</keyword>, CEO, Axis Bank said that CCI approval is likely to come in five to six weeks. "Based on limited data, we have limited concerns on business, which are all doing quite well. We cannot be engaging with Citi till we get CCI approval. Once approval comes we can engage more actively. The merger date refers to the date when we take over the assets. The customer experience has to be hassle-free," he said. While NIMs continue to trend marginally lower than its bigger peers, the lender has shown an improvement across all metrics during the quarter. "You are seeing delivery on NIM trajectory on what we had said earlier. You can take on higher risk and increase NIMs, so our growth factors in credit implication on the book. A rising interest rate environment plays to the strength of the larger bank and it should be positive for us on a net basis," said <keyword id="869603" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="puneet-sharma" source="Orion">Puneet Sharma</keyword>, CFO of Axis Bank. Fee income also grew at a robust rate 34% year-on-year, which is a big contributor to profits of private lenders. Retail fee income grew 43% annually. The bank’s core operating profit grew 17% annually and 5% sequentially. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Small biz loans grew by 74%" comment="subhead" text="Small biz loans grew by 74%">Small biz loans grew by 74%</cmsannotation> After two years of the pandemic, lenders are pushing for growth and Axis Bank reported a loan growth across segments, but it has disappointed analysts as it is lower compared to its peers. While retail loans grew 25% annually and 3% sequentially, small business loans and rural loans grew 74% and 42%, respectively, compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Overall loan growth stoof at 14% annually. The bank’s asset quality also showed an improvement during the quarter, with fresh accretion of slippages declining along with aggregate non-performing assets. The gross non-performing assets came in at 2.76%, which is lower by 109 bps year-on-year and 6 basis points sequentially. The bank’s net non-performing assets came in at 0.64%, which is 56 bps lower annually and 9 basis points sequentially. The bank’s accretion of fresh bad loans also declined. While the gross slippage ratio declined 210 bps year-on-year and 33 bps sequentially, the net slippage ratio was down 0.41% 219 bps annually. The bank’s provision coverage ratio stood at 77%. On a quarterly average basis, savings accounts grew 16% annually and 4% sequentially, while current accounts grew 15% annually. Term deposits grew 13% annually. On a quarterly basis, CASA grew 16% annually and 1% sequentially. The bank’s CASA ratio stood at 43%. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/list-of-top-new-upcoming-whatsapp-features-in-second-half-2022/articleshow/93103440.cms">From avatars to hiding online status—list of top new upcoming WhatsApp features</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-has-the-highest-rate-of-women-taking-action-against-harassment-calls-and-messages/articleshow/93107553.cms">India has the highest rate of women taking action against harassment calls and messages</a>

Axis Bank beats street estimates on net profit, business growth disappoints

<ul><li>Four banks and a finance company made it to the top ten Indian firms in the <keyword id="627892" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="forbes-global-2000-list" source="Orion">Forbes Global 2000 list</keyword>.</li><li>Reliance Industries topped the list this year after it became the first Indian company to cross $100 billion in revenues.</li><li>Three Indian banks <keyword id="13222" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sbi" source="Orion">SBI</keyword>, <keyword id="45123" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc" source="Orion">HDFC</keyword> Bank and <keyword id="42456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="icici" source="Orion">ICICI</keyword> Bank occupied the next three spots in the Indian top ten.</li></ul>Four banks and a finance company made it to the top ten Indian firms in the Forbes Global 2000 list. The list of top ten is dominated by banks followed by energy companies like RIL, ONGC and Indian Oil. TCS is the only tech major to make it to the list. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mukesh Ambani’s RIL holds on tight to its top spot" comment="subhead" text="Mukesh Ambani’s RIL holds on tight to its top spot">Mukesh Ambani’s RIL holds on tight to its top spot</cmsannotation> Reliance Industries added one more feather to its cap by topping the list this year after it became the first Indian company to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/reliance-industries-first-indian-company-to-near-100-billion-in-revenue/articleshow/91381614.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">cross $100 billion in revenues</a>. At a global level, the company climbed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/reliance-industries-is-top-indian-company-in-forbes-global-2000-list/articleshow/91536920.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">two spots this year</a> to the 53rd rank and a market cap above $228 billion, as per the list. It is also the only Indian company which made it within the top 100 of the global list. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Indian banks also get the spotlight" comment="subhead" text="Indian banks also get the spotlight">Indian banks also get the spotlight</cmsannotation> Three Indian banks SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank occupied the next three spots in the Indian top ten. Finance company HDFC came sixth while <keyword id="96188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="axis" source="Orion">Axis</keyword> Bank occupied the tenth spot - highlighting the growth in the sector. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Central Bank policies might have aided the banks" comment="subhead" text="Central Bank policies might have aided the banks">Central Bank policies might have aided the banks</cmsannotation> Equity markets in general have been gaining from the lowered interest rates since the pandemic began. Banks too gained from the eased interest rates, and that coupled with good credit growth and improved recovery from stressed assets too helped both public and private sector banks. All the banks in the list declared a good growth in profits for the quarter ending March with good growth in net interest margins. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Economic revival a key factor" comment="subhead" text="Economic revival a key factor">Economic revival a key factor</cmsannotation> With the economy reviving, the banking sector continues to stabilize. Even analysts believe that the worst has passed for the lenders’ asset quality and loans. Pankaj Pandey, head of research at ICICI Direct, earlier this year said, “Banks have focused on balance sheet strengthening.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="State Bank of India (SBI)" comment="Subhead" text="State Bank of India (SBI)">State Bank of India (SBI)</cmsannotation> Global Rank: 105 Sales: $54.42 billion Market Cap: ₹3,97,189 crore ($51 billion) State Bank of India (SBI) is the second biggest public Indian company at the moment, with a global ranking of 105. It ranked number 2 in the list after RIL and has recently said that its provisioning for bad loans has come down, while its fourth quarter profits went up by 41%. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="HDFC Bank" comment="subhead" text="HDFC Bank">HDFC Bank</cmsannotation> Global Rank: 153 Sales: $22.51 billion Market Cap: ₹7,16,641 crore ($92 billion) HDFC Bank came third in the top ten list and is one of the leading private sector banks in India. It has over 6,342 banking branches, 18,130 ATMs across 3,188 cities and towns in India. The company added 1,000 branches in the last fiscal year. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="ICICI Bank" comment="subhead" text="ICICI Bank">ICICI Bank</cmsannotation> Global Rank: 204 Sales: $21.89 billion Market Cap: ₹4,70,856 crore ($60 billion) ICICI Bank is one of the largest private sector banks in the country which has been working towards reviving its books by outperforming in its growth and improving its margins for the last few years. It has a network of 5,418 branches and 13,540 ATMs across India. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC)" comment="subhead" text="Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC)">Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC)</cmsannotation> Global Rank: 268 Sales: $18.48 billion Market Cap: ₹3,86,636 crore ($49 billion) Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) which ranked sixth in the top ten companies - is one of India’s leading financing companies. The growth in home loans and home purchases during the pandemic has helped the NBFC grow and improve its margins too. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Axis Bank" comment="subhead" text="Axis Bank">Axis Bank</cmsannotation> Global Rank: 431 Sales: $11.41 billion Market Cap: ₹1,95,272 crore ($25 billion) Axis Bank, which came in at number 10 in the Indian Forbes ranking list, has gained from lower credit costs and steady growth across all its business areas. It also acquired Citibank’s consumer business covering loans, credit cards, wealth management and retail banking in March this year. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rupee-continues-to-fall-to-record-lows-and-it-might-affect-your-food-education-healthcare-and-other-expenses/articleshow/91535452.cms">Rupee continues to fall to record lows and it might affect your food, education, healthcare and other expenses</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-puts-44-billion-twitter-deal-on-hold-over-fake-accounts/articleshow/91540983.cms">Elon Musk puts $44 billion Twitter deal on hold over fake accounts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indigo-flies-the-most-passengers-abroad-air-india-comes-next/slidelist/91537381.cms">Indigo flies the most passengers abroad — check out Air India, Spicejet’s share</a>

SBI to ICICI — five banks among top 10 public Indian companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list

Mumbai, Dec 1 () Third largest private sector lender Axis Bank is setting aside more capital, more than twice over the regulatory requirements, for loans in sectors it has identified as "stressed", a senior official has said.
The bank is maintaining a standard asset provisioning of 1 percentage point for bad loans in such sectors, as against the regulatory provision of 0.40 per cent, its executive director Rajiv Anand told .
The move, which is being followed at least since April, comes amid continuing concerns on high quantum of non-performing assets in its book. The high level of NPAs and the ensuing provisioning have impacted the profits of a majority of lenders, including Axis Bank, over the past four years.
"In sectors identified as high risk, we have increased the standard provisioning to 100 bps as against the mandated 40 bps to take care of any concerns," Anand said.
In April 2019, the bank had first disclosed that it had started to provide extra capital, but had not given out the exact levels of the additional provisioning or spelled out the sectors.
When asked if the troubled sectors like real estate or non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) are included on the list, Anand declined to specify the sectors which the bank has identified as stressed.
"We have not closed lending to any sector because of the difficulties that it may be going through. In each sector, there are always strong names which is better rated and has a resilient business model," Anand made it clear.
Concerns on higher capital burn due to policies like these can be placated by ensuring that the lending to a particular sector is not very high, which is decided by an internal team.
Anand said the bank has overhauled its risk assessment framework, wherein loan origination is separated from underwriting, and has a chief credit officer reporting directly to the chief executive.
Amid reports of its larger rival ICICI Bank shuttering its project finance, Anand hinted that Axis Bank is also following a similar strategy.
"We generally avoid project finance and our focus is now much more towards cash flow generating businesses and look at the relationship in a manner where we can deliver the full capabilities of our group to the customer," he said.
Anand avoided a direct reply when asked if there is demand from greenfield projects but said it will not be apt to classify the loans merely as refinance, adding it is witnessing working capital demand as well.
The bank is targeting to grow its overall book 5-8 per cent above the system average, and that private sector banks have been garnering a higher percentage of market share in both loans and deposits lately whereas state-owned banks still are starved of growth capital.
In the comments that come amid difficulties on asset quality or mergers plaguing public sector banks, Anand said over half of the incremental liabilities are coming to the private sector banks, while in loans, the share is at a much higher 75 per cent.
On the macro economic prospects, Anand pins hopes on more monetary easing and growth-enhancing measures put forth by the government, but concedes that the second half will also be difficult.
The pick-up will be visible from the first half of FY21, he said, on the back of growth slipping to an over six-year low of 4.5 per cent for the September quarter. AA BEN BAL

You Searched For "axis bank provisions" and got 6 results

Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

Ira Alok Puranik

Simply Put: Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

Ira Alok Puranik

Credit card growth experiencing a slowdown, as borrowers struggle to pay back loans

BI India Bureau

Axis Bank beats street estimates on net profit, business growth disappoints

Malini Bhupta

SBI to ICICI — five banks among top 10 public Indian companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list

Kritti Bhalla

Axis Bank more than doubles loan provisions for troubled sectors

PTI

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides