YES Bank sees growth in deposit base after more than a year

The embattled private lender YES Bank has seen its deposit base expand for the first time in the past five quarters, hinting at a semblance of confidence of customers after an SBI-led bailout.

At the end of June 2020, the deposit base of YES Bank stood at Rs 1.17 lakh crore, from Rs 1.05 lakh crore three months ago -- a jump of Rs 11,996 crore (11.3 per cent). During the previous financial year, the deposit base of the bank had more than halved as customers were losing confidence in the bank.

The deposits have grown primarily because of deposit inflow from the wholesale banking side. The corporate deposits grew by 25 per cent during the quarter to Rs 48,000 crore, from Rs 38,300 crore. However, CASA accounts remained more or less flat for the bank.

The bank clocked a profit of Rs 45 crore during the quarter, compared with Rs 114 crore in the year-ago period, a drop of 60 per cent.

Along with increase in the deposit base, the bank has also seen an improvement in its capital adequacy with the capital raise of Rs 15,000 crore. The proforma CET1 as on June 30 2020 stood at 13.4 per cent -- highest in past five years.

The gross NPA ratio of the bank, however, deteriorated to 17.3 per cent from 16.8 per cent on account of a decrease in the advances. Of the GNPAs worth Rs 32,702 crore, 96 per cent or Rs 31,426 crore is from the wholesale banking business, highlighting the risk metrics being disregarded by the previous management of the bank.

Meanwhile, the bank's shares continue to lose and close down 3.25 per cent at Rs 11.90 apiece -- below the price band of the follow-on public offer.