AXISBANK

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, May 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sunil Mehta attempted to draw a line under accounting woes at IndusInd INBK.NS on Wednesday when he presented a full-year update for the bank, which remains without a CEO. The $7 billion Indian lender, the non-executive chairman said, was starting the new financial year with a "clean slate". Some of the details he revealed do not inspire confidence, however.

IndusInd's reversal of interest income on some inappropriately classified microloans dragged it to a net loss of 23.3 billion rupees ($272 million) in the three months to end March, its largest quarterly loss. That coupled with lapses in derivatives accounting reduced its full-year earnings by two-thirds.

This accounts for the full extent of the financial hit from the twin lapses, Mehta said. On the derivatives issue, he also presented some positive findings: the bank has received reports from unnamed external firms that determined the impact was the same as the bank's initial assessment.

If Mehta's overall confidence is not misplaced, the private sector bank is undervalued. IndusInd's crushed shares trade below their one-year forward book value; larger rival Axis Bank AXBK.NS commands a multiple nearly twice its net worth. ICICI ICBK.NS and Kotak Mahindra KTKM.NS enjoy more than three times.

Yet the board suspects employees of fraud, is still working with external advisors to identify the root causes, and IndusInd pointed to the likelihood of future legal action from regulators and investigative agencies. That suggests the fourth quarter may not mark the end of the problems.

Mehta is a grandee of Indian banking, and he oversaw the turnaround of Yes Bank YESB.NS before Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation agreed to pick up a 20% stake in it this month. Yet the exit of IndusInd's CEO and his deputy has unnerved investors: the shares traded flat on Thursday, underscoring deep scepticism.

Banking analysts were scathing in their assessments too. HDFC Securities said its own channel checks concluded "structurally poor regulatory compliance" and "aggressive booking of fees across multiple businesses, which could come under deeper regulatory scrutiny".

Overall, the current picture keeps alive the possibility the central bank may appoint a state banker to the top role, a level of intervention the monetary authority's new governor Sanjay Malhotra has so far resisted. IndusInd will need to deliver strong results consistently before it wins back the benefit of the doubt.

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CONTEXT NEWS

IndusInd Bank on May 21 reported a net loss of 23.3 billion rupees ($272 million) for the three months to March on account of interest reversals arising from incorrect classification of some microfinance loans.

A cumulative 1.73 billion rupees was incorrectly recorded as fee income in the nine months to the end of December, and reversed during the quarter ended March 2025, the bank said.

IndusInd's board suspects the occurrence of fraud and the involvement of certain employees that have a significant role in the accounting and financial reporting of the bank.

Sunil Mehta, non-executive chair of IndusInd, said the board is determined to address all identified issues so that they are appropriately resolved.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

MUMBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - India's Axis Finance plans to raise 10 billion rupees ($116.8 million), including a greenshoe option of 5 billion rupees, through a sale of bonds maturing in three years and three months, bankers said on Wednesday.

The company will pay an annual coupon of 7.37% on this issue and has invited bids on Thursday, the three bankers said.

Axis Finance did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 21:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 85.6020 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected]))

Updates with deal value in paragraphs 2-3

By Siddhi Nayak and Anton Bridge

MUMBAI/TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has signed a definitive agreement to take a 20% stake in Indian private lender Yes Bank YESB.NS, a deal that marks the largest cross-border merger and acquisition deal in India's financial sector.

The total value of the deal, which involves SMBC buying shares from eight existing shareholders, comes up to 134.8 billion rupees ($1.58 billion), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T said in a statement.

SMBC, is a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and is Japan's second-biggest bank.

Restrictions on ownership, stricter capital requirements, and state domination of the banking sector have made cross-border deals a rarity across Indian banks. A takeover of troubled Lakshmi Vilas Bank by Singapore-based DBS Group DBSM.SI in 2020 was the last major deal in the sector.

SMBC's stake purchase in Yes Bank, which will make it the largest shareholder in the lender, also marks the latest major overseas acquisition by a Japanese financial institution as they look to secure new sources of growth after years of rock bottom interest rates at home and a shrinking domestic population.

Last month investment bank Nomura 8604.T acquired Macquarie Group's MQG.AX U.S. and European public asset management businesses for $1.8 billion and last December Nippon Life Insurance made Bermuda-based Resolution Life a wholly-owned subsidiary for around $8.2 billion.

As part of the deal, SMBC will acquire a 13.19% stake from State Bank of India SBI.NS, also its largest investor, and an aggregate of 6.81% from Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank Limited and Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank said in a stock exchange filing.

SBI holds a 24% stake in Yes Bank, as a result of the regulator-led restructuring of the lender in March 2020.

ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, Axis Bank AXBK.NS and Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS together hold an 11.34% stake in Yes Bank.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals from the Reserve Bank of India, Competition Commission of India and shareholders of the Bank, Yes Bank said.

SMBC's investment "marks a pivotal step in our next phase of growth," CEO Prashant Kumar said in the release.

SMBC was advised by financial advisors JPMorgan and Jefferies, Yes Bank said.

Reuters had reported this week that SMBC was close to agreement on acquiring a stake in Yes Bank and had received a verbal go-ahead from the central bank.

Shares of Yes Bank closed nearly 10% higher ahead of the announcement on Friday and have gained 2.2% so far this year.

($1 = 85.3990 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak in Mumbai and Anton Bridge in Tokyo
Editing by David Goodman and David Evans)

(([email protected]; x.com/siddhiVnayak;))

** Indian private lender Axis Bank AXBK.NS on Thursday beat fourth-quarter profit estimates and expressed confidence about its retail loan growth improving in the upcoming quarters

** Shares down 3.6% to 1164.60 rupees

MORE-THAN-ANTICIPATED STRESS IN UNSECURED LOANS "MAIN RISK"

** Nomura ("buy", hikes TP to 1450 rupees from 1230 rupees): Loan growth "a tad soft"; pickup will be key

** Emkay Research ("buy", raises TP by ~8% to 1400 rupees): Credit growth remains sub-optimal, more-than-expected stress in unsecured loans main risk

** ICICI Securities ("buy", lifts TP to 1400 rupees from 1320 rupees): Loan growth remains muted, lender instead prioritising margins

** Amidst impending pressure on loan yields, we expect growth to be relatively subdued in the near term, though it could see healthy recovery in CY27 from stable rates and easing liquidity conditions - ICICI

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

Recasts, updates with commentary from management

By Nishit Navin and Siddhi Nayak

BENGALURU/MUMBAI April 24 (Reuters) - Indian private lender Axis Bank AXBK.NS on Thursday beat fourth-quarter profit estimates and expressed confidence about its retail loan growth improving in the upcoming quarters.

The bank's loans grew 8% in the quarter ended March from a year ago, with retail loans expanding 7%.

Peers such as ICICI Bank reported a 14% loan growth for the same period.

Tighter guardrails by India's central bank and increased delinquencies on unsecured loans had led lenders to slow down credit growth in this segment.

"The actions that we took in terms of the credit tightening are actually giving us good results on the unsecured (retail) portfolio," said Arjun Chowdhry, an executive at Axis Bank.

"On the secured portfolio, we continue to hold up very well."

Axis Bank is "quite comfortable" with the retail loan growth forecast going into the next couple of quarters, even as corporate loan growth will be "muted" on tariff-related uncertainty, it said, without divulging specific targets.

The bank reported standalone quarterly net profit of 71.18 billion rupees ($834.7 million). Analysts on average had expected profit of 66.6 billion rupees, according to LSEG-compiled data.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned on loans and paid on deposits, rose 6% to 138.11 billion rupees.

Net interest margin was at 3.97%, compared with 4.06% a year ago and 3.93% in the previous quarter.

Even though the cost of deposits has started trending downwards following two rate cuts by the central bank, there is "still some way to go," CEO Amitabh Chaudhry said.

Axis Bank's gross non-performing assets ratio - bad loans as a percentage of total loans, a key gauge of lenders' asset quality - was at 1.28% at March-end, down from 1.46% in the earlier quarter.

Provisions and contingencies, or funds kept aside for potential bad loans, rose 14% to 13.59 billion rupees from a year, but fell 37% from the previous quarter.

($1 = 85.2720 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru and Siddhi Nayak in Mumbai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shreya Biswas)

(([email protected];))

April 15 (Reuters) - India's Axis Bank AXBK.NS will consider raising funds on April 24, the private lender said on Tuesday.

The bank, which will report its earnings for the January–March quarter on the same day, said it will consider the issuance of shares through methods including qualified institutional placement as well as the issuance of debt instruments such as bonds and debentures.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

(([email protected];))

MUMBAI, April 9 (Reuters) - India's Axis Finance has accepted bids worth an aggregate of 6.66 billion rupees (about $77 million) for the sale of bonds maturing in three year and two months and the reissue of March 2030 bonds, three bankers said on Wednesday.

It will pay an annual coupon of 7.7320% on fresh issue and a yield of 7.74% on the reissue, and had invited bids from bankers and investors earlier in the day, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on April 9:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 86.5430 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

(([email protected]))

MUMBAI, April 8 (Reuters) - India's Axis Finance plans to raise 14 billion rupees ($162.99 million), including a greenshoe option of 9 billion rupees through the sale of bonds maturing in three year and two months and in five years, three bankers said on Tuesday.

It will pay an annual coupon of 7.75% on each issue and has invited bids from bankers and investors on Wednesday, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on April 8:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 85.8970 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

(([email protected]))

MUMBAI, March 27 (Reuters) - India's Axis Bank has partnered with J.P. Morgan to offer real-time U.S. dollar payment capabilities to commercial clients in the country, facilitated by Kinexys, the U.S-based lender's blockchain and digital assets unit.

This is the first instance where an Indian company will have the flexibility to make or receive dollar payments at any time, J.P. Morgan said in a statement on Thursday.

Axis Bank will deliver the 24/7 dollar clearing capability for clients out of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT city, an international financial services center.

The collaboration with Kinexys will offer "significant value" to clients by streamlining payments, unlocking liquidity and adding further optionality on cross-border payments, Neeraj Gambhir, group executive & head - treasury, markets & wholesale banking products, at Axis Bank said.

Currently, companies can make cross-border payments that are settled on the same day.

Naveen Mallela, global co-head at Kinexys, illustrated the anytime payment capability by saying that Indian companies can now make dollar payments to Middle Eastern clients on Sundays, which are standard working days in that region.

"The ability to move money 24X7 without cutoffs essentially reduces the cost of liquidity for processing of payments. Furthermore, the payment rails are designed to be completely no-deduct which will ensure full preservation of payment amount until it reaches the final beneficiary," Mallela said.

(Reporting by Nimesh Vora; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected]; +91 22 6921 7896;))

MUMBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - India's Axis Finance has accepted bids worth 5.35 billion rupees ($62.4 million) for the sale of bonds maturing in 5 years, three bankers said on Wednesday.

It will pay an annual coupon of 7.97% on this issue and had invited bids from bankers and investors earlier in the day, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on March 26:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 85.7050 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]))

MUMBAI, March 25 (Reuters) - India's Axis Finance plans to raise 10 billion rupees ($116.83 million), including a greenshoe option of 5 billion rupees, through the sale of bonds maturing in 5 years, three bankers said.

It has invited coupon and commitment bids for the issue on Wednesday, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.


Here is the list of deals reported so far on March 25:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 85.5950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Khushi Malhotra and Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((Khushi [email protected]; [email protected]))

By Ashwin Manikandan

NEW DELHI, March 4 (Reuters) - Indian startup Mintoak, which provides merchant payment services to lenders, said on Tuesday it has bought Digiledge, marking the first acquisition in the nascent central bank digital currency space in a deal that sources said was worth around $3.5 million.

The Reserve Bank of India started a pilot for the CBDC, or e-rupee, a digital alternative to physical currency, in December 2022, and last April, it expanded the scope of transactions to payment firms from having limited it to just banks initially.

PayPal PYPL.O and HDFC Bank HDBK.NS backed Mintoak has completed the acquisition of Digiledge, which specialises in CBDC and bill payments services, said two sources aware of the matter, declining to be identified as they are not authorised to speak with the media.

The deal will enable Mintoak's partner banks, which include HDFC Bank, Axis Bank AXBK.NS and SBI SBI.NS, to offer more comprehensive CBDC-related payment solutions to their clients, Mumbai-based Mintoak said.

"By adding Digiledge's bill payments and CBDC capabilities, we are making it easier for merchant acquirers to grow and help more small and medium enterprises access digital tools and financial services," Mintoak CEO Raman Khanduja said.

In January, Cred and MobiKwik ONEM.NS became the first fintech platforms to give customers access to the CBDC.

Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google Pay, Walmart-backed WMT.N PhonePe PHOP.NS and Amazon Pay are among the payment firms seeking to join the pilot, Reuters reported in August 2024.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

(([email protected]))

Feb 25 (Reuters) -

• AXIS IS SAID TO WEIGH MAJORITY STAKE SALE OF $1 BILLION SHADOW BANK UNIT - BLOOMBERG NEWS

Source text: https://tinyurl.com/24njxygt

Further company coverage: AXBK.NS

(([email protected];))

BENGALURU, Feb 4 (Reuters) - India's Max Financial Services MAXI.NS said on Tuesday it has approved the listing of its unit, Axis Max Life, by merging with the insurer.

The move comes after the country's insurance regulator sought a public listing roadmap from Axis Max Life, the financial services company said.

Max Financial, which holds nearly an 81% stake in Axis Max Life, said it will initiate the process for the insurer's listing once there is clarity on the law allowing such mergers.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

(([email protected];))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Jan 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A small-loan crisis is creeping up on India’s banks. Bad debt inched up at the $146 billion HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and other private lenders in the three months to the end of December, and the central bank recently warned of a deep rot in small loans. The $2 trillion banking system is better prepared for an asset quality crisis than a decade ago, but a stalling economy could batter its defences.

HDFC’s gross bad loan ratio rose six basis points from the end of September to 1.42%. Axis Bank AXBK.NS doubled its provisions and contingencies from the same three-month period in the previous year to account for defaults on unsecured personal loans, and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS raised them by 37%.

India’s banks learnt some lessons from the last blowup in 2015-16, when a string of chunky project loans left their balance sheets bleeding. At 16.7%, their capital as a share of risk weighted assets is nearly four percentage points higher than in 2014. The share of the top 100 borrowers in outstanding loans is down to 15% from 18%. Bad loans are at a 12-year low of 2.6%. And the Reserve Bank of India mandates Indian lenders hold a 2.5% buffer above the 9% minimum capital requirement under Basel III norms. It tightened the screws on unsecured loans in November 2023 to curb excessive risk-taking.

Macroeconomic disruption could mess with that. An RBI stress test revealed that in an extreme scenario where GDP growth slows to around 3% and inflation rises to 7.8%, four banks may breach the minimum capital requirement of 9%.

Mid-sized private banks are prone to that risk. In 2020, Yes Bank’s YESB.NS rivals rescued it from near-failure with cash infusions and months later, Singapore's DBS DBSM.SI acquired another capital-starved lender based in southern India. That’s making markets jittery about private lenders like RBL RATB.NS and IndusInd Bank INBK.NS which specialise in microloans of under $500, the segment where the stress is deepest. The finance chief of IndusInd, which reported surging provisions and a profit drop in the September quarter, resigned on Friday.

So far the risk is limited to only a slice of loans -- unsecured loans account for a quarter of total bank credit. To contain it, banks are easing off on new lending. That in turn could slow GDP growth further. It’s a feedback loop India can ill afford.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X

CONTEXT NEWS

HDFC Bank on Jan. 22 reported consolidated net profit of $2.04 billion for the three months to Dec. 31, 2% higher than in the same period a year earlier. The bank’s gross non-performing asset ratio rose six basis points from the end of September to 1.42%.

IndusInd Bank on Jan. 18 said Chief Financial Officer Gobind Jain resigned from the position on the previous day to pursue other professional opportunities.

(Editing by Antony Currie and Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/
[email protected]))

By Siddhi Nayak

MUMBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The stock prices of Indian private lenders that have reported an increase in bad loans in their personal loans and micro-credit businesses are bearing the brunt of investors' fears of a U-turn in the asset-quality cycle for the country's banks.

RBL Bank's shares RATB.NS fell as much as 5.8% on Monday after the lender reported a near 28% sequential jump in quarterly slippages, or loans that were classified as non-performing for the first time.

Axis Bank AXBK.NS, India's third-largest private bank, forecast retail asset quality would take a few more quarters to normalise. Its stock sank 4.5% on Friday and dropped a further 1.1% on Monday.

Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, however, gained 9% after reporting lower slippages than the previous quarter, although it also warned that the stress in parts of its loan book would persist.

Indian banks are grappling with rising bad loans, particularly in sectors such as microfinance, credit cards and personal loans. Analysts have attributed this to over-leveraging and an increase in loans outstanding per borrower.

The rise in delinquencies has forced lenders to allocate more funds for potential losses and pare back loan growth in these segments, which, in turn, hurts profitability.

"The sign of stress that is visible across microfinance and unsecured loans is a mild symptom of a tougher macro environment," said Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at Wealthmills Securities.

"That is largely because banks are conservative towards loan growth, which coupled with tighter liquidity conditions, could mean that an economic recovery could be prolonged."

RBL Bank -- over 50% of whose slippages came from credit cards and microfinance loans -- should start seeing a normalisation in asset quality in the unsecured segment latest by July-September, CEO R Subramaniakumar said on a post-earnings call.

Kotak's gross non-performing assets ratio worsened slightly at the end of December and the lender said it would be cautious about unsecured loans going forward.

The stress "will take a couple of quarters to normalise," starting only from April-June, CEO Ashok Vaswani said at a media conference on Saturday.

Banks' gross NPA (non-performing asset) ratio could rise to 3% by the end of March 2026, from a 12-year low of 2.6% last September, the central bank said in its Financial Stability Report in December.

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

(([email protected]; +91 22 6921 7848; X: https://twitter.com/siddhiVnayak))

Adds analysts' comments in paragraphs 9, 11 and 12

By Ashna Teresa Britto and Siddhi Nayak

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Axis Bank AXBK.NS fell to a 14-month low on Friday, a day after the lender missed profit estimates on slower loan growth, higher bad loan provisions, and forecast that retail asset quality would take a few more quarters to normalise.

Axis Bank was the first major Indian bank to report its results in an industry grappling with rising bad loans, particularly in sectors such as microfinance and the unsecured portfolio. This has led lenders to allocate more funds for potential losses.

The 5.4% drop in Axis Bank's shares placed them at the bottom of the blue-chip Nifty 50 .NSEI on Friday, and dragged the Nifty Bank index .NSEBANK lower by 1.3%.
The bank "calibrated" loan growth due to the stress in certain segments, Executive Director Subrat Mohanty said on Thursday, while finance chief Puneet Sharma noted that most provisions, which more than doubled in the third quarter, stemmed from slippages in the unsecured retail portfolio.

Axis Bank's third-quarter profit missed analysts' expectations due to rising credit costs and slowing loan growth.

Loans grew 9% year-on-year, slower than the 11% increase in the previous quarter.

The bank's asset quality deteriorated, with slippages - loans classified as bad for the first time - rising.

Normalisation of retail asset quality is underway and will take a few quarters to stabilise, CEO Amitabh Chaudhry said.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said the bank's asset quality cycle is yet to peak, which could lead to higher slippages.

Following the results, at least 16 analysts covering Axis Bank's stock lowered their price targets, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Axis Bank will need slippages to peak and growth to accelerate in order to bridge valuation gap with larger private peers, JPMorgan said in a note.

"Microfinance and unsecured retail slippages will be higher for other banks, too, in the fiscal third quarter," said Anand Dama, head BFSI at Emkay Global Financial Services.

($1 = 86.5850 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto and Chris Thomas in Bengaluru, Siddhi Nayak in Mumbai; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

(([email protected];))

Adds details from conference call in paragraph 6, 8 and 13

By Nishit Navin and Siddhi Nayak

BENGALURU, Jan 16 (Reuters) - India's Axis Bank AXBK.NS reported a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, as loan growth slowed and it set aside more funds against potential bad loans.

The country's fourth-largest private lender by market capitalisation said its standalone net profit - which excludes earnings of its subsidiaries - rose 4% to 63.04 billion rupees ($728.48 million) for three months to December-end.

Analysts had expected, on average, a profit of 65.16 billion rupees, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Indian lenders have been grappling with higher bad loans in segments such as microfinance and in the unsecured portfolio, forcing them to set aside more funds for potential losses.

Axis Bank's provisions and contingencies, or funds kept aside for potential bad loans, more than doubled to 21.56 billion rupees year-on-year.

The bank made provisions "largely towards unsecured retail portfolio that has slipped in the current market environment," Chief Financial Officer Puneet Sharma said in a conference call.

Its gross non-performing asset ratio, a key gauge of lenders' asset quality, was at 1.46% at December-end compared with 1.44% three months earlier.

The bank has deliberately calibrated loan growth given the stress in certain segments, executive director Subrat Mohanty said on the same call.

Axis Bank's loans grew 9% year-on-year in the three months to December-end, slower than the 11% rise in the previous quarter. Its total deposits also grew by 9%.

Net interest income - the difference between interest earned and paid - rose 9% to 136.06 billion rupees, lagging analysts' expectations of 137.87 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.

Indian lenders' deposit growth has been slower than the rise in advances, forcing them to either ease loan growth or raise more deposits.

The net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, shrank to 3.93% from 4.01% a year earlier, and 3.99% in the previous quarter.

The bank aims to operate at a net interest margin of 3.80% in the medium term, Sharma said.

($1 = 86.5350 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)

(([email protected];))

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Reliance Infrastructure Ltd RLIN.NS:

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE - UNIT RECEIVES NOTICES FROM AXIS BANK AND IDFC FIRST BANK

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE LTD - NOTICES INVOKE RIGHT OF SUBSTITUTION UNDER CONCESSION AGREEMENT

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE LTD - NOTICES CITE ALLEGED DSRA DEFAULTS BY UNIT

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE - FINANCIAL IMPACT ON CO UNDETERMINED AT THIS STAGE

Source text: ID:nBSE3kWTMJ

Further company coverage: RLIN.NS

(([email protected];;))

Dec 13 (Reuters) - Axis Bank Ltd AXBK.NS:

• AXIS BANK SPOKESPERSON: COPY OF CONTEMPT PETITION NOT BEEN SERVED ON BANK

• AXIS BANK SPOKESPERSON: ALL AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY CONSORTIUM LENDERS WERE AS PER THEIR CONTRACTUAL ENTITLEMENTS

• AXIS BANK SPOKESPERSON: WILL REVIEW CONTEMPT PETITION ON RECEIPT

• AXIS BANK SPOKESPERSON: WILL TAKE APPROPRIATE LEGAL RECOURSE IN CONSULTATION WITH CONSORTIUM LENDERS

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: AXBK.NS

(([email protected];))

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Reliance Infrastructure Ltd RLIN.NS:

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE - SUPREME COURT ISSUED NOTICE TO MD OF DAMEPL, AXIS BANK

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE - CO NOT PARTY TO PROCEEDINGS INITIATED BY DMRC

• RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE - APRIL 10 JUDGMENT DOES NOT IMPOSE ANY LIABILITY UPON CO

Source text: ID:nBSE47VMlK

Further company coverage: RLIN.NS

(([email protected];))

Nov 26 (Reuters) - India's markets regulator directed Axis Capital on Tuesday to not provide any credit risk cover in transactions involving debt securities, relaxing its prior order that had barred the company from acting as a merchant banker to new debt issues.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India also ordered it to not provide guarantee or indemnity, which results in formation of a "structured secured credit transaction".

"I am willing to modify the interim direction...to limit the debarment to the activities alleged to be in violation" of the rules, SEBI member Ashwani Bhatia said on Tuesday.

The regulator, in an interim September order, had banned Axis Capital from acting as a banker for new debt issues, alleging violation of rules.

The regulator had then said Axis Capital provided a repayment guarantee to bonds worth $31.1 million issued by Sojo Infotel, a holding company floated by the majority shareholders of Indian phone manufacturing firm Lava Group, in March 2021.

However, the company was unable to pay the bondholders at the time of redemption in March 2024, with Axis Capital stepping in to pay the dues on outstanding bonds, which is not a permitted activity, SEBI had said.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

By Shubham Batra and Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - India's Axis Mutual Fund sees the purchase of highly rated, two-year to five-year corporate bonds as a good value proposition, as an inverted yield curve provides investors an opportunity to lock in higher rates.

"The two-to-five year corporate bonds in the 7.40%-7.50% band are a good buy as we have seen slowing credit growth and huge positive banking liquidity," Devang Shah, head of fixed income at the fund house, told the Reuters Trading India forum on Wednesday.

"I think the corporate bond (yield) curve will continue to be inverted till the first rate cut. Post that, it should be flat-to-steep."

In an inverted yield curve, the rates at the longer end are lower compared to the shorter end.

AAA-rated 10-year bonds are yielding around 7.25%, leading to an inversion of around 20 basis points.

Last week state-run REC sold five-year and six-month bonds at a coupon of 7.34% and 15-year bonds at 7.09%, highlighting the inversion.

Axis Mutual Fund, which manages assets worth 3.12 trillion rupees ($36.98 billion), suggests investors pick shorter-duration bond funds when looking to lock in yields at the peak of the interest rate cycle.

On the government bond side, however, Shah said he continues to prefer exposure to longer-duration papers even after the recent uptick in yields.

He advises investing in gilt funds - ones that invest in state and central government bonds - for investors looking for "tactical opportunities of capital gains".

The spread between longer-duration Indian government bonds and corporate bonds has contracted over the last few months amid strong demand from long-term investors such as pension funds, insurance companies and provident funds.

Shah added that "negative surprises to growth" could push the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates in 2025. India's retail inflation accelerated to 6.21% in October, breaching the Reserve Bank of India's target range of 2%-6% for the first time in 14 months and dashing hopes of a rate cut next month.

(Join Trading India on LSEG Messenger for live updates and interviews: https://bit.ly/3TNDwkC | Reuters Global Markets Forum)

($1 = 84.3630 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Shubham Batra and Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Nov 7 (Reuters) - India's Axis Bank AXBK.NS plans to raise around 30 billion rupees ($355.6 million) by selling Basel III-compliant, additional Tier I perpetual bonds this month, two merchant bankers said on Thursday.

This would be the first ever perpetual bond issue by the private lender who is likely to open bidding for the issue soon, the bankers added.

The bankers requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media. Axis Bank did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

"Since it is their first perpetual bond issue, the bank may tie up with investors before opening the issue for the market," one of the bankers said.

The bonds are rated AA+ by Crisil and ICRA and this would be the second time Axis Bank will tap the bond market this financial year.

In September, it had raised 39.25 billion rupees via 10-year infrastructure bonds with an annual coupon of 7.45%.

($1 = 84.3575 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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MUMBAI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Indian banks' loan growth moderated this September, compared with the same month a year ago, central bank data showed on Thursday, as the impact of the Reserve Bank of India's clampdown on "exuberance" in retail lending continued.

Banks' credit grew at 14.4% year-on-year last month, slower than the 15.3% increase in September 2023, excluding the impact of HDFC Bank merging with parent Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), the RBI said.

Including the impact of the merger, banks' loans grew 13% last month, compared with 20% a year ago.

Loan growth had moderated in August as well.

Indian banks have consistently reported double-digit loan growth for a while, helped by healthy economic growth and urban consumption. However, the RBI, worried about the risk of bad loans, imposed higher capital requirements on banks late last year.

Despite that, some segments, such as personal loans and credit card loans posted strong growth, in excess of 25%, until earlier this year when the central bank governor warned against "exuberance".

The RBI followed up on its norms with a series of actions against non-complying entities and that, along with rising defaults especially in the once fast-growing segments like personal loans and credit cards, have slowed both loan growth.

Banks' personal loan growth halved to 12.1% in September from a year ago, while growth in credit card outstanding dropped to 18% from 31.4% a year ago, the RBI data showed.

A rise in defaults by over-leveraged small borrowers is hitting India's top lenders, with bank executives and analysts expecting higher levels of stress in these personal segments over the next year.

Credit growth to the services sector decelerated to 15.2% in September from 21.6% a year ago, primarily due to lower growth in credit to non-banking financial companies.

On the flip side, loans to industry grew by 9.1% year-on-year in September, quicker than the 6% growth last year.

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

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** Shares of India's Axis Bank AXBK.NS jumps 2.7% to 1198.4 rupees

** Lender said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved reappointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as MD and CEO

** "One of the major overhangs for Axis gets over," says Macquarie analyst Suresh Ganapathy

** Says there were some investor worries whether Chaudhry will get full 3 year extension

** YTD stock has gained 8.3%

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Axis Bank AXBK.NS rise 4.7% to 1,185.50 rupees; top gainer on Nifty 50 index .NSEI and Nifty financial services index .NIFTYFIN

** Lender beats Q2 profit view on credit demand while its net interest margin shrunk

** Jefferies expects gap in loan growth and deposit growth to narrow

** Anand Rathi upgrades AXBK to "buy" as deposits grew faster than advances

** Systematix says growth outlook remains bleak for FY25 with deposit growth a challenge in near term

** Twelve out of 40 analysts covering AXBK cut TP while five analysts raised it; avg rating at "buy"; median TP is at 1,355 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock up 8% YTD vs 14% and 10% rise in NSEI and NIFTYFIN, respectively

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru)

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Adds management comments in paragraphs 7-8

By Nishit Navin

BENGALURU, Oct 17 (Reuters) - India's Axis Bank AXBK.NS reported a higher-than-expected second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by an increase in core lending income.

The country's fourth-largest private lender by market value said its standalone net profit, which excludes its subsidiaries, rose 18% to 69.18 billion rupees ($823.25 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Analysts had expected a profit of 65.27 billion rupees, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Axis Bank's net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 9.5% to 134.83 billion rupees.

Loans by Indian banks have been growing at double-digit percentages since April 2022. That has made lenders scramble for deposits, forcing them to either slow their loan growth or pay higher interest on deposits, and weighing on margins.

Axis Bank's net interest margin (NIM), a key gauge of profitability for lenders, shrunk to 3.99% during the quarter from 4.11% last year, and 4.05% in the previous quarter.

Chief Financial Officer Puneet Sharma said the sequential decline in NIM was primarily due to a one-time tax gain made in the previous quarter.

The bank said its margin, excluding the one-time impact, was broadly maintained as deposit costs remained stable when compared with the prior quarter.

Axis Bank's net loans grew 11%, while total deposits rose 14% in the second quarter.

Gross non-performing assets ratio, a key gauge of lenders' asset quality, improved to 1.44% at the end of September, compared with 1.54% three months earlier, and 1.73% a year ago.

However, provisions for bad loans nearly tripled to 22.04 billion rupees as the bank set aside additional funds worth 5.2 billion rupees as a "prudent" measure, it said.

Axis Bank's shares ended 1.9% lower ahead of the results amid a weak broader market.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Shounak Dasgupta)

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Sept 20 (Reuters) - Axis Bank Ltd AXBK.NS:

• INDIA’S AXIS CAPITAL ON MARKET REGULATOR ORDER: ACTIVITIES IN DEBT SEGMENT WERE IN COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATION

• INDIA'S AXIS BANK ON MARKET REGULATOR ORDER: SEBI HAS NOT IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS ON AXIS CAPITAL IN ANY SEGMENT OTHER THAN DEBT

• AXIS BANK: AXIS CAPITAL WILL CONTINUE TO OPERATE IN ALL OTHER SEGMENTS INCLUDING EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS, M&A, INSTITUTIONAL EQUITIES

• AXIS BANK: SEBI HAS NOT PASSED ANY ORDER AGAINST AXIS BANK

• AXIS BANK: NO MATERIAL IMPACT ON BANK FINANCIALS AS A RESULT OF SEBI ORDER

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

Further company coverage: AXBK.NS

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BENGALURU, Sept 19 (Reuters) - India's markets regulator on Thursday barred Axis Capital from acting as a merchant banker for new debt issues on the alleged charge of undertaking activities not permitted under rules, according to an order on the regulator's website.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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