Mumbai– Struggling Yes Bank topped the Nifty50 table, advancing nearly 4 per cent on Friday. However, market analysts say that these gains will be short-lived until a concrete step is taken to rescue the bank.
The shares of the fourt- largest private lender gained over 10 per cent in two sessions after SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said: “Yes Bank will not be allowed to fail.”
Kumar had reasoned that the Yes Bank is a significant player in the market with an almost $40 billion balance sheet. At the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos, he said: “I have a feeling that it will not be allowed to fail.”
Yes Bank shares closed 4.40 per cent higher at Rs 42.75 a share on Friday.
“Yes Bank needs a fresh round of funding and only that will help the bank to survive. Kumar’s comment could be the same for any other bank which is not doing well as the concern is more about the banking system as a whole,” said Narendra Solanki of Anand Rathi.
“Investors still do not know as to how will Yes Bank be rescued. Kumar’s comment may ease the panic to some extent but it will not result in much gains for Yes Bank until a solid proposal to revive it appears,” Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities told IANS.
Yes Bank’s financials have also come under heavy scrutiny off-late. Rating agency ICRA recently said that Yes Bank’s solvency profile remains weak with net NPA/CET of 36 per cent as on September 30, 2019. A number of rating firms have red flagged the bank’s exposure to stressed projects.
Owing to uncertain news flow, Yes Bank, once the traders’ favorite, has proved to be one of the biggest wealth destroyers. Its stock price is down to Rs 42 a share from a high of Rs 285.90 on April 4, 2019.
Citing continued uncertainty with regards to Yes Bank’s capital raising plan, Moody’s Investors Service placed Yes Bank’s long-term foreign currency issuer rating of B2 under review.
The agency noted that standalone viability of Yes Bank is getting increasingly challenged by its slowness in raising new capital.
Moody’s said that because the viability of the bank absent a large capital injection is in question, it has downgraded the bank’s standalone credit profile or its BCA to caa2 from b3. (IANS)
