Yes Bank down 25 per cent on weak Q4 results

Leading private banker Yes Bank's shares tumbled on Tuesday as the bank posted a loss of Rs. 1,507 crore for the March quarter. In the early morning session on Tuesday, the stock was down by more than 25 per cent at Rs. 177.90 per share.

The bank's exposure to the failed and debt-ridden Anil Ambani group of companies as well as NPAs of Jet Airways, IL&FS and Essar caused much of the damage to the company's Q4FY19 and full year FY19 results. This is the first time the bank has reported quarterly losses since FY06.

Yes Bank reported a loss of Rs. 1,507 crore in the March quarter compared to profit of Rs 1,180 crore in the year ago quarter. Net Interest Income (NII) rose 16.3 per cent YoY to Rs. 2,506 crores in Q4FY19 and 26.8 per cent YoY to Rs. 9,809 crores in FY19. Net Interest Margin (NIM) contracted by 30 bps.

Yes Bank's new CEO Ravneet Gill has taken a tough call on the bank's NPAs and made a total non-tax provisions of Rs. 3,662 crore, which is 9 times YoY. Gill guided to a lower growth in the FY20 and he has also created a stressed assets watchlist of Rs. 10,000 crore.

Following the Yes Bank's results and concall, leading brokerages double-downgraded the stock by close to 40 per cent.

All these factors weighed heavily on the stock of Yes Bank. At 10:50 hours, the stock of Yes Bank was at Rs. 174.90 per share, down by Rs. 62.50 or 26.33 per cent. The stock's lower circuit limit for the day is placed at Rs. 166.20 (30 per cent).

The company's board has recommended a dividend payout of Rs. 2 per share for the March quarter.