BANDHANBNK

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• BANDHAN BANK - APPROVAL GRANTED TO SBI MUTUAL FUND TO ACQUIRE 'AGGREGATE HOLDING' OF UP TO 9.99% OF PAID-UP SHARE CAPITAL

• BANDHAN BANK - APPROVAL ACCORDED PURSUANT TO INFORMATION FURNISHED TO RBI

Source text: ID:nBSE1gG4dG

Further company coverage: BANH.NS

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** Microfinance lender Bandhan Bank's BANH.NS shares rise as much as 5.78%, biggest intraday jump in seven months, to 150.7 rupees; last up 4%

** While BANH posted a 52% fall in December quarter profit Y/Y, multiple brokerages project a turn around in operating performance, improvement in asset quality and attractive valuations as positives

** "After five years of de-rating, valuations look reasonable and we upgrade to "buy" from "neutral"," says Motilal Oswal (PT at 175 rupees)

** "Margins were stable, a relief after two quarters of sharp decline," says global brokerage CLSA ("outperform", PT at 143 rupees)

** Emkay Global upgrades rating on co to "buy" from "add" earlier; PT at 180 rupees

** Given the recent correction and inexpensive valuations, we technically upgrade rating on co and recommend the stock to investors ready to endure near-term pain for long-term gain- Emkay

** Stock rated "hold" on avg by 25 analysts covering it; median PT at 173 rupees- data compiled by LSEG

** In 2025, BANH lost 8%

(Reporting by Komal Salecha in Bengaluru)

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Jan 22 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• BANDHAN BANK Q3 NET PROFIT 2.06 BILLION RUPEES

• BANDHAN BANK Q3 GROSS NPA 3.33%

• BANDHAN BANK Q3 INTEREST EARNED 54.31 BILLION RUPEES

• BANDHAN BANK Q3 PROVISIONS AND CONTINGENCIES 11.55 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nnAZN4S2P41

Further company coverage: BANH.NS

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS rise ~1% to 151.04 rupees

** Microfinance lender to sell off its bad and written-off loan portfolios worth over 69 billion rupees (~$772 million)

** To use bidding and auction involving asset reconstruction companies to clean its balance sheet

** Co has grappled with higher bad loans in its micro-loan book over the last few quarters, forcing it to set aside more funds for potential bad loans

** Provisions and contingencies in the quarter ended Sept 30 almost doubled to 11.53 billion rupees

** Twenty five analysts have a "hold" rating on avg; median PT is 177.50 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, BANH down 5.5%

($1 = 89.3830 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

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Adds detail all through

Aug 7 (Reuters) - India's AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS, on Thursday, got the banking regulator's 'in-principle' approval to transition into a universal bank, making it the first full-fledged banking licence issued in nearly a decade.

AU Small Finance Bank applied for the licence in September 2024, which would allow it to expand its operations, in terms of issuing bigger loans, taking on more customers and making subsidiaries, all of which are limited for small finance banks.

The Reserve Bank of India, also the country's banking regulator, first issued guidelines for small finance banks to transition into full-fledged banks in 2014 and then updated those guidelines with more detailed criteria in April last year.

These included a five-year track record of satisfactory performance, a net worth of 10 billion rupees ($114 million), meeting capital requirements, recent profitability and limited non-performing assets.

The last such license issued by the RBI was in 2015 to Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank, which was a microfinance firm then.

For the quarter ended June 30, AU Small Finance Bank reported a 16% year-on-year jump in net profit to 5.81 billion rupees, while its gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 2.47% compared to 1.78% a year earlier.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan and Nishit Navin; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Savio D'Souza)

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** India's private banks' index .NIFPVTBNK down 3.5% in July, set for worst monthly decline since Oct 2024

** Sub-index also set for first monthly decline in five

** Drop intensified after subdued results from Axis Bank AXBK.NS, Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, Bandhan Bank BANH.NS and IndusInd Bank INBK.NS, sparking asset quality concerns

** BANH and AXBK top monthly decliners on sub-index

** Seven of 10 stocks on sub-index log monthly losses

** Heaviest-weighted HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS up nearly 2% and 3% this month, respectively, on upbeat results

** Benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI down 2.3% in July, set to snap four-month winning streak

** YTD, private banks index up 10% vs Nifty 50's 5.4% climb

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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** Bandhan Bank BANH.NS falls 3.7% to 180.12 rupees; set for worst day in more-than five weeks

** Stock among top two pct losers on mid-cap index .NIFMDCP100, which is up 0.4%

** Private lender reports bigger-than-expected decline in Q1 profit on Friday, hit by spike in bad loan provisions as asset quality worsened

** At least five brokerages cut ratings post results, five hike ratings, per data compiled by LSEG

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 200 rupees

** Jefferies cuts FY26 earnings estimates by 6%; Elara Capital says volatile financial performance, uncertainty around co's operating environment dampened investor confidence

** YTD, BANH gains ~13%

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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July 18 (Reuters) - Indian private lender Bandhan Bank BANH.NS reported a steeper-than-expected 65% drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, hit by a spike in bad loan provisions as its asset quality worsened.

Profit for the quarter ended June fell to 3.72 billion rupees ($43.2 million), from 10.63 billion rupees a year ago. Analysts had expected it to log a profit of 3.83 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Bandhan Bank, which transitioned from a microfinance lender to a universal bank in 2015, has grappled with higher bad loans in its micro-loan book over the last few quarters, forcing it to set aside more funds for potential bad loans.

Provisions and contingencies in the quarter jumped to 11.47 billion rupees from 5.23 billion rupees in the same quarter a year ago. They were, however, lower than the 12.6 billion rupees in the prior quarter.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans, a measure of asset quality, rose to 4.96% in the quarter from 4.71% in the prior quarter. Fresh slippages, or bad loan additions, were at 15.5 billion rupees, sharply higher than 8.9 billion rupees in the year ago quarter.

The lender's net interest income dropped 8%, while the net interest margin contracted 117 basis points year-on-year to 6.4%.

($1 = 86.1250 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS rise 2% to 190.9 rupees apiece

** UBS raises price target to 210 rupees from 165 rupees, reiterates "neutral" on the microfinance lender's stock

** UBS' new price target implies an upside of 12.2% over the last close

** UBS says industry trends are stabilising and sees gains from a gradual drop in credit costs

** The average rating of 25 analysts tracking BANH is "buy"; the median price target is 185 rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG

** BANH shares are up 17.7% in 2025 so far, outpacing the 13.8% rise in Nifty private bank index .NIFPVTBNK, exchange data shows

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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June 20 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• RBI EXTENDS TERM OF ARUN KUMAR SINGH AS ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR

Source text: ID:nBSEh2Bkc

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** Shares of India's Bandhan Bank BANH.NS rise 3.1% to 180.3 rupees apiece

** CLSA says among microfinance lenders, BANH has outperformed larger rival IndusInd Bank INBK.NS as well as smaller peers on asset quality in the March quarter

** Brokerage reiterates high-conviction "outperform" rating on BANH

** Says BANH's annualised gross slippage ratio of 10% was significantly below Creditaccess Grameen CRDE.NS, Fusion Finance FUSN.NS and INBK

** Sees only marginal pain for BANH in terms of asset quality going forward, compared with peers

** CLSA reiterates "underperform" on CRDE and FUSN; CRDE shares down 0.8%, FUSN shares up 0.5%

** BANH shares up 10% in 2025 so far, mirroring the 12% rise in private bank index .NIFPVTBNK

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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** Yes Bank YESB.NS rises 2.1%; State Bank of India SBI.NS gains 1.9%

** Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC), a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T, said on Friday it will buy 20% stake in Yes Bank from SBI, other lenders

** YESB closed nearly 10% higher on Friday before deal was announced

** SMBC to acquire 13.19% stake from SBI and an aggregate of 6.81% from Axis Bank AXBK.NS, Bandhan Bank BANH.NS, Federal Bank FED.NS, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, IDFC First Bank IDFB.NS and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS

** On Monday, around 318 mln YESB shares traded vs 30-day avg of ~129 mln

** YTD, YESB up 4%

(Reporting by Vijay Malkar and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS fall as much as 3.3% to 151.51 rupees

** Private lender on Thursday said its Q4 loans and advances grew 10.6% Y/Y

** Collection efficiency for emerging entrepreneur business (EEB) loans stood at 97.7%, co said

** Brokerage Jefferies says BANH Q4 loan growth tad slower vs 15% in Q3

** EEB collection stable but below normalised levels of 98-99% reflecting stress in sector - Jefferies

** Share price below 100-day and 200-day exponential moving averages

** Avg rating of 26 analysts equivalent of "buy", median PT is 170 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** Stock down 3.8% YTD

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

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March 26 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• BANDHAN BANK - GETS TAX DEMAND OF 1.19 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nNSE3RKzzM

Further company coverage: BANH.NS

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS surge 7.3%, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank UJJI.NS up 5%, AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS and IndusInd Bank INBK.NS rise 4% and 1.4%, respectively

** Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday partially reversed tighter rules for bank loans to small borrowers and non-bank lenders

** BANH sees best intra-day percentage gain since January 14, 2025

** RBI's move should provide relief to banks with higher exposure to microfinance sector, Nomura said

** Shares of AU Small Finance Bank lost 28%, Bandhan Bank fell 37% and IndusInd Bank was down 31% as of last close, since RBI's risk weight hike in November 2023

** Financial stocks .NIFTYFIN gain 0.8%

** Cholamandalam Investment CHLA.NS and Shriram Finance SHMF.NS lead gains in financial stocks, rising 4.4% and 3.6%, respectively; Bajaj Finance BJFN.NS shares rise 2.5%

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru)

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Dec 31 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• BANDHAN BANK LTD - RBI APPROVES RE-APPOINTMENT OF ANUP KUMAR SINHA AS NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Source text: ID:nBSEQ9JxK

Further company coverage: BANH.NS

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By Siddhi Nayak

MUMBAI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Indian lenders are bracing for another wave of defaults in their microfinance portfolios in the second half of the fiscal year after the banking regulator recently further tightened rules for such loans, four bankers said.

The default rates in microfinance loans -- collateral-free loans to those with annual income of up to 300,000 rupees ($3,556) -- had already jumped, as evidenced in the July-September results of IndusInd Bank INBK.NS, Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, RBL Bank RATB.NS and Bandhan Bank BANH.NS.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), both the central bank and banking regulator, has previously publicly flagged unfair practices in the sector, including "usurious" interest rates and "unreasonably high" processing fees.

Last month, in its latest move, the RBI asked lenders to stop issuing new microfinance loans to borrowers unless they have cleared previous loans, three of the bankers said.

This, however, was conveyed informally, the bankers said, and could lead to cascading defaults as some borrowers will fail to repay dues without fresh credit. Banks offered such "netting off" of loans since many borrowers don't have a steady source of income, one banker said.

The RBI did not respond to an email from Reuters. Three bankers declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Now, as the cessation of the netting-off impact starts playing out, loan installments will start spiraling and the stress in the sector should continue this quarter, said Venkatesh M, managing director of IIFL Samasta Finance.

"We are still not out of it."

The impact could last even longer, according to Gaurav Dua, senior vice-president and head of capital market strategy at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"As regulations become stricter, stress will creep up and be prolonged. We think that this could play out for the next 4-6 months," Dua said.

Banks and non-bank lenders compete in the microfinance market, which has led to rapid growth in the availability of such credit. The total outstanding of such loans jumped by 18.3% on-year as of June-end, per latest data from industry body MFIN.

The RBI's instruction to stop netting off, one banker said, was to prevent evergreening loans -- in which banks extend new credit to borrowers unable to repay an existing loan, thereby concealing the true status of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans.

($1 = 84.3680 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS rise as much as 9.7% to 184.48 rupees

** Private lender reported a 30% y/y rise in Q2 net profit to 9.37 bln rupees; Q2 interest earned rose 22.4%

** Jefferies says BANH beat est., quality of MFI (microfinance) loans has held-up well; confirming assessment bank can outperform peers in this MFI-cycle; maintains "buy"

** Adds, cut earnings estimates by 1-4% to factor tad lower NIMs, higher credit costs for FY25-27; Partha Sengupta's appointment as CEO should bode well for performance and investor comfort

** BANH profit growth mainly led by higher other income and lower than expected provisions – better than some peers that posted sharp earning downgrades; retains "reduce" - Emkay

** Mean rating of 27 brokerages rating the stock is "buy"; their median PT is 218.50 rupees - LSEG data

** BANH last up 8%; down 24.7% YTD so far

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru)

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Oct 25 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• APPOINTS PARTHA PRATIM SENGUPTA AS MD&CEO

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE8Bqp4T

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Oct 11 (Reuters) - Shares of private lender Bandhan Bank BANH.NS rose about 10% on Friday after India's central bank approved the appointment of its new CEO, which analysts said would ensure management stability.

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday approved the appointment of Partha Pratim Sengupta as CEO and managing director of the bank. He will replace Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, who retired in July.

Sengupta previously held leadership positions at the State Bank of India SBI.NS and was CEO and managing director at state-run Indian Overseas Bank IOBK.NS between 2020 and 2022.

Bandhan Bank's shares rose as much as 9.5% to 205.55 rupees, and were last up 9%.

"Appointment of a PSU banker as CEO provides some stability to an organisation like Bandhan which has witnessed exits in the past year," Macquarie analyst Suresh Ganapathy said in a note.

Separately, the bank said the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company had completed an audit of loan claims filed by the lender under a guarantee scheme. Post the completion, the remaining claims payout to the bank stood at 3.15 billion rupees ($37.5 million).

The decision provides credibility to the bank, which may use the funds to build provisions for stress loans, adding to its capital base and earnings, Jefferies said in a note.

"We believe the conclusion of the audit, with a relatively clean chit for the bank, will be a breather for the street," CLSA said.

Macquarie said it believes claims payout implies a 15% upside to its estimate for the bank's fiscal year 2025 profit, which is currently at 35 billion rupees.

Bandhan Bank, which had seen high bad loan formation over the past two years, said its asset quality degraded with gross non-performing assets ratio rising to 4.23% at the end of June from 3.84% three months earlier.

Its shares have lost about 15% so far this year, compared to about a 7% rise in the broader Nifty bank index .NSEBANK.

($1 = 83.9775 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani and Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Varun H K)

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BENGALURU, Oct 10 (Reuters) - India's central bank has approved the appointment of veteran banker Partha Pratim Sengupta as chief executive officer and managing director of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS, the private lender said in a filing on Thursday.

Sengupta, who has been part of the banking industry for nearly four decades, previously held leadership positions at the State Bank of India SBI.NS, the country's largest lender.

He was also managing director and chief executive officer of state-owned Indian Overseas Bank IOBK.NS between 2020 and 2022. At Bandhan Bank, he will replace Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, who retired this July after nearly a decade at the helm.

Bandhan Bank stated in a separate filing that the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company had completed an audit of loan claims filed by the lender under a guarantee scheme and said the remaining claims payout to the bank stood at 3.15 billion rupees.

The audit by the government agency was related to a set of loans the bank had given out as part of a government-backed scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme was meant to ensure payments to lenders in the case of defaults on micro loans by small borrowers.

The Reserve Bank of India had appointed a director to the board of Bandhan Bank in June, while the audit was underway, without disclosing the reason for the move.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

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Oct 4 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• LOANS & ADVANCES AS OF SEPT 30 UP 21.4% Y/Y

• TOTAL DEPOSITS UP 27.2% Y/Y AS OF SEPT-END

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE5bksBj

Further company coverage: BANH.NS

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Sept 5 (Reuters) - Ashok Leyland Ltd ASOK.NS:

• ASHOK LEYLAND PARTNERS WITH BANDHAN BANK FOR PROVIDING VEHICLE FINANCE FACILITIES - STATEMENT

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS rise as much as 10.5% to 212.8 rupees, its biggest intraday climb since June 20

** BANH on Friday reported 46.4% surge in profit at 10.63 billion rupees (~$127 million) in June quarter

** Lower provisions and controlled operating expenses drove earnings beat, Motilal Oswal analysts said

** Analysts at JM Financial note asset quality metrics remained steady with Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) and Net Non-Performing Assets (NNPA) at 4.2% and 1.1% quarter-on-quarter, respectively

** 5 analysts raised price targets post Q1 results, with median PT at 210.50 rupees vs 202.5 rupees a month ago; mean rating of 25 analysts is "hold" - LSEG data

** Including session's move stock is down 12.4% YTD

($1 = 83.7125 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru)

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July 26 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• Q1 NET PROFIT 10.63 BILLION RUPEES

• Q1 GROSS NPA 4.23%

• Q1 INTEREST EARNED 55.36 BILLION RUPEES

• Q1 NET NPA 1.15%

• Q1 PROVISIONS AND CONTINGENCIES 5.23 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSEbfYpTj

Further company coverage: BANH.NS

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July 6 (Reuters) - India's Bandhan Bank BANH.NS said on Saturday it has appointed Ratan Kumar Kesh as its interim managing director and chief executive officer with effect from July 10.

The Kolkata-based private bank said the appointment is for a period of three months or until a new MD & CEO takes charge.

Bandhan Bank said in April that CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh would retire on July 9 after spending nearly a decade at the lender.

Kesh is currently executive director and chief operating officer at the bank.

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS fall as much as 4.4% to 198.80 rupees; last down 1.4%

** India's cenbank names Arun Kumar Singh, its chief general manager, as additional director of Bandhan for one year from June 24

** RBI, also the financial regulator, can appoint directors to a bank's board to increase oversight of operations

** Macquarie says stock can react negatively in near term, but the move is good in longer term

** Brokerage believes move is to ensure proper functioning at Bandhan since current MD, CEO will retire on July 9 and RBI is yet to approve a replacement

** BANH top loser on Nifty Bank index .NSEBANK, which is up 0.6%

** BANH now down ~15% YTD; Nifty bank index up 7.5% YTD

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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May 17 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• Q4 NIM 7.6%

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE7rqdcw

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** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS fall as much as 9.2% to 179.25 rupees in above-avg vol

** Lender's MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh to retire on July 9 after nearly a decade at the bank

** BANH last down 4.8%, top loser on Nifty bank index .NSEBANK

** Jefferies says the news is a negative surprise given CEO's recent 3-year reappointment and could be a risk from strategy perspectives

** Cuts stock to 'underperform' and PT by 14% to 170 rupees

** About 50.5 mln shares traded, nearly 4x the 30-day avg and stock's busiest session since mid-Feb

** Avg rating of 25 analysts on BANH is "buy"; median PT is 255 rupees -LSEG data

** Stock down ~22% YTD

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru)

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April 5 (Reuters) - Bandhan Bank Ltd BANH.NS:

• BANDHAN BANK - CHANDRA SHEKHAR GHOSH, MANAGING DIRECTOR & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO RETIRE

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE6yntWh

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