YES Bank shares shot up over 9% in the early trade on Friday and hit a fresh 52-week high on the buzz that State Bank of India (SBI) was mulling booking partial profits in the private lender by selling a stake via block deals. YES Bank shares settled marginally lower on Thursday.
However, in a clarification issued yesterday, SBI denied calling the Moneycontrol report “factually incorrect”.
YES Bank shares scaled a fresh 52-week peak of Rs 32.85 and the price action was supported by strong volume action with over 54.12 crore shares being traded on the NSE around 10 am.
The stock’s recent rally has been fuelled by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) nod to HDFC Bank for acquiring up to 9.50% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the bank.
Since the news broke out on Tuesday, the stock has gained 44% taking the counter into an overbought zone. The Trendlyne data suggests its RSI and MFI hovering near the 74 and 77 mark, respectively. It is also trading above its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs).
The RBI, while granting the above-referred approval has also conveyed that if HDFC Bank fails to acquire major shareholding within 1 year from the date of the said RBI intimation letter, the approval will stand cancelled.
HDFC Bank has also been asked to ensure that its aggregate holding in YES Bank does not exceed 9.50% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the bank at all times. “If the aggregate holding falls below 5%, prior approval of RBI will be required to increase it to 5% or more of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the bank,” the exchange filing said.
YES Bank reported robust growth in profit for the quarter ended December 2023, with the bottom line surging more than four times year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 231 crore.
Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose 2.4% YoY to Rs 2,017 crore.
Provisions for the quarter dropped sharply, which aided growth in the bottom line. Provisions and contingencies for the reported period stood at Rs 555 crore, compared with Rs 845 crore a year ago.
Despite this, the pre-provision operating profit declined 5.4% YoY to Rs 864 crore.
Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total loans stood at 2.0% as of December end, unchanged from the year-ago as well as quarter-ago periods.
Net non-performing assets ratio stood at 0.9% as of December-end, compared to 1.0% a year ago. It was unchanged from the September quarter period.
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