Yes Bank posts surprise return to profit on bond write-back

Net income totaled 26.3 billion rupees ($347 million) in the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of 15.1 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based bank said late Wednesday.

Yes Bank Ltd., the Indian lender that had to be rescued in March, unexpectedly returned to profit last quarter thanks to a write-back on bond payments.

A security guard wearing a protective mask stands outside a Yes Bank Ltd. branch on a near-empty street in Mumbai, India, on Monday, May 4, 2020. India's central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das and the chief executive officers of the nation's banks have discussed ways to ensure credit flow to businesses once the world's toughest stay-at-home order ends. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

Net income totaled 26.3 billion rupees ($347 million) in the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of 15.1 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based bank said late Wednesday. Analysts expected a loss of 42.2 billion rupees, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Excluding the bond write-back, the bank posted a loss of 36.7 billion rupees as provisions rose.

Deposits plunged by more than a third from December and capital buffers remained below the regulatory minimum, underscoring the challenge for new Chief Executive Officer Prashant Kumar, who plans to raise 150 billion rupees to boost Yes Bank’s financial strength. A nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak is increasing the risk of defaults across the financial sector.

A group of eight lenders led by State Bank of India infused 100 billion rupees into Yes Bank in March, after the banking regulator intervened to prevent it from failing. Restrictions on deposit withdrawals, imposed as part of the bailout, were lifted later that month.

Read how deposits are key to the Yes Bank rescue

Yes Bank was able to write back the amount it was supposed to pay to holders of its additional Tier 1 bonds after the Reserve Bank of India waived its payment liability on the securities following its bailout.

Yes Bank has been on a stormy ride following the ouster of its founder and former CEO Rana Kapoor in January 2019. After multiple attempts to raise new capital to offset a surge in bad loans, the bank experienced a big drop in deposits which forced the RBI to intervene.

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