Kolkata: Shares of IDFC First Bank seemed to stabilise on the morning of Tuesday, Feb 24, after the erosion of 16% in its level on Monday, following the fraud
in Haryana government accounts, allegedly committed by employees of the bank and others. Around 10:30 in the morning, the shares gained 24 paise, or 0.34% and were trading at Rs 70.28 on Tuesday, Feb 24.
After IDFC First Bank disclosed on Sunday the Rs 590-crore fraud in accounts held by the Haryana government with the bank, the shares of the bank dived as much as 16% on Monday. The bank filed a police complaint and reported it to the RBI. “This is a specific isolated incident that happened in one branch. Clearly some employees were involved and external parties were also involved,” IDFC First Bank said in a statement. The authorities appointed KPMG to conduct a forensic audit in this question.
Buy signal at what price?
Against the backdrop of the fraud and the fall, Japanese brokerage MNC Nomura has done a review of the target price. For the time being it ha retained is target price of Rs 105 and the Buy signal. However, it did admit that the fraud will negatively impact the short-term sentiment of investors. The brokerage has also mentioned that if deposit-linked frauds, it’s the practice of banks protecting depositors and adjust it through their profit and loss account after the fraud is proved.
But what’s significant is that the brokerage MNC said that though the bank as stated that it took place in a branch and is an isolated incident, the felony triggers concerns abut governance standards and controls. The Japanese major also pointed out that Rs 590 crore forms as much as 28% of FY26F profit and 19 basis points of the CET-1 ratio, which stood at 14.23 per cent, as of December 2025. (By the way, CET or Common Equity Tier 1 (CET-1) ratio is a key regulatory metric measuring a bank’s highest-quality capital against the risk-weighted assets of the bank. “The exact impact to the bank’s financials will depend on potential recoveries made through the liens marked on fraudulent beneficiary accounts maintained with other banks, liabilities of entities involved in the transactions and the legal recovery process,” Nomura mentioned in a note.
Investec downgrades IDFC First Bank
However, brokerage Investec was less charitable than Nomura. It downgraded the share following the disclosure of Rs 590-crore fraud. Investec trimmed the target price by as much as 12.38% and brought it down to Rs 92 against the earlier target of Rs 105. Yet, the revised price target of the lender is significantly higher tha the market price of Rs 70.28 on Feb 24 morning.
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