The lender’s loan book excluding Gruh Finance grew by 20% in Q4, lower than the previous quarters Bandhan Bank’s shares fell a whopping 69% between mid-January and end-March; it has since recovered about 21% of these losses.
The shares are now down 55% from their highs in mid-January. In an update to stock exchanges last month, when the bank said its loan book grew 60% year-on-year for the March quarter, investors took it as a sign of a strong balance sheet, which led to the recovery in the shares.
But, as they say, the devil is in the details. Click here to enlarge graphic Sure, a 60% loan book growth in a quarter where anxiety over covid-19 reached a peak and concluded with a national lockdown on 24 March, is commendable.