Yes Bank posts Rs 3,788-crore net loss in Q4

The bank has guided for cash recoveries worth Rs 5,000 crore in FY22 and it expects slippages to be less than that.

Private sector lender Yes Bank on Friday reported a net loss of Rs 3,787.75 crore for the March quarter of FY21, against a profit of Rs 2,629 crore a year ago, which had arisen out of the writedown of its additional tier-I bonds. Effectively, the bank had posted a net loss of Rs 3,668 crore in Q4FY20, which widened in Q4FY21 owing to a 22.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net interest income (NII) and a 7.6% rise in provisions.

The bank saw fresh slippages worth Rs 11,800 crore during Q4, with Rs 8,000 crore coming from the moratorium book. Prashant Kumar, managing director & CEO, said, “We believe the numbers (on asset quality) have seen a peak, with March outcomes showing improvement.” Most of the stress has emerged from sectors that have been under pressure because of Covid, such as hospitality, travel and commercial real estate, he added.

Recoveries stood at Rs 1,960 crore and upgrades were to the tune of Rs 654 crore. Yes Bank made technical write-offs of non-performing assets (NPAs) worth Rs 10,300 crore. The gross NPA ratio rose five basis points (bps) sequentially to 15.41% and the net NPA ratio rose 184 bps to 5.88%. The bank has guided for cash recoveries worth Rs 5,000 crore in FY22 and it expects slippages to be less than that.

Yes Bank’s provisions rose 7.6% y-o-y to Rs 5,240 crore and its provision coverage ratio (PCR) fell to 78.6% from 81.5% at the end of December. The cumulative provisions by the bank, including that for Covid, stood at Rs 26,558 crore in March 2021, down from Rs 32,010 crore at the end of December 2020.

The advances book shrank 5.5% y-o-y to Rs 96,426 crore as on March 31. Retail advances accounted for 30% of the loan book at the end of March 2021, as against 28% a quarter ago. The management forecast an advances growth of over 15% in FY22, led by a 20% growth in the retail and SME book.

Deposits stood at Rs 1.63 lakh crore at the end of March, up 55% y-o-y and 11% sequentially. The current account savings account (CASA) ratio stood at 26.1% in Q4FY21, lower than 26.6% a year ago.

The bank’s net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of profitability, slid 180 basis points (bps) sequentially to 1.6%.

The capital adequacy ratio as per Basel III stood at 17.5% as on March 31. The common equity tier-I (CET-I) ratio was at 11.2% at the end of March.

Yes Bank’s shares on the BSE ended flat at Rs 14.55 on Friday. The results were released after the close of trade.