Explained — Key reasons behind the fall in RBL Bank share price on Monday

Shares of RBL Bank Ltd., the Mumbai-based private lender are trading with losses of over 7% on Monday, January 19. This is the biggest single-day drop for the stock since June 2024. Shares are declining in response to the quarterly results reported by the lender over the weekend.

Here are some important factors that led the share price fall on Monday:

Higher Credit Costs

The most important factor is the sharp rise in credit costs, which increased by 40 basis points during the December quarter on a sequential basis to nearly 2.5%.

The rise in credit costs was due to the higher write-offs in the lender's credit card portfolio.

Provisions Rise

RBL Bank's net profit missed expectations during the quarter. The figure of ₹214 crore was lower than the consensus expectations, which were in excess of ₹260 crore.

The impact on the lender's profitability was due to elevated provisions, which increased by 28% from the previous quarter to ₹639 crore from ₹500 crore.

There was also a one-off expense of ₹32 crore due to the new labour laws.

Management's Warning

The management of RBL Bank spoke on the earnings call, stating that the credit card portfolio is seeing some challenges due to the macro portfolio and a similar trend is likely to play out in terms of slippages over the next two quarters.

The cards in force have also grown sequentially after 6-7 quarters of decline.

Analysts' Take

CLSA maintained its "hold" rating on the lender with a price target of ₹310 calling it an "average quarter" on the balance sheet front.

13 out of the 22 analysts covering the stock have a "buy" rating on the stock, six say "hold", while three have a "sell" rating on the lender.

Shares of RBL Bank are trading 7% lower on Monday at ₹301.95. The stock is still up 91% over the last 12 months.