Shares of YES Bank extended their losing momentum on Friday and plunged over 6 per cent in intra-day trade to hit fresh 52-week low of Rs 95.25 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The YES Bank's share price has been on a selling spree for the last one month, falling over 37 per cent during the period, after global rating agencies such as UBS India and Moody's Investors Service downgraded the bank's ratings. During the same period, the S&P BSE Sensex fell nearly 1 per cent.
The bank's share was the worst hit among front-line stocks on the BSE. In the last one year, YES Bank share price has tumbled over 74 per cent.
Continuing its losing streak, YES Bank share price dipped as much as 6.10 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 90.25 after opening lower at Rs 95 apiece on the BSE. On Thursday, the scrip closed trade at Rs 96.25, down 3.56 per cent. There was also spurt in volume trade with 62.99 lakh shares that changed hands over the counter as compared to two-week average of 55.64 lakh shares on the BSE.
On the National Stock Exchange, stock of YES Bank was trading 3.95 per cent lower at Rs 92.45. The scrip hit a 52-week low of Rs 90.20 during the day's trade after opening lower at Rs 95.
In a fresh development, the bank on Thursday said it has acquired over 9 per cent stake in battery maker Eveready by invoking pledged shares following loan default by a group company.
"Yes Bank, pursuant to invocation of pledge of shares" it had acquired 68,80,149 equity shares of Eveready Industries Ltd, constituting 9.47% of the post-issue paid-up share capital as at July 3, 2019," Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing.
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It is to be noted that several brokerage firms including Citigroup, Macquarie, HSBC, and Morgan Stanley have either maintained a "sell" rating on the stock or remain "underweight" following the disappointing March quarter earnings.
During January-March quarter, YES Bank reported a net loss of Rs 1,506.64 crore as against a net profit of Rs 1,179.44 crore during the year ago period, due to rise in provisioning for bad loans. On the asset quality front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank doubled to 3.22 per cent of the gross advances as on March 31, 2019, from 1.28 per cent at the end of 2017-18.
Last month, UBS India cut the target price of YES Bank's shares to Rs 90 from Rs 170, citing weak earnings going ahead. The agency expects 255/200 basis points credit cost in fiscal 2020-21, higher than the bank management's guidance of 125 basis points.
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Among others, Moody's Investors Service placed YES Bank's foreign currency issuer rating of Ba1 under review for downgrade, citing the private lender's sizeable exposure to finance companies. According to the agency, the ongoing liquidity pressures on Indian finance companies will negatively impact the credit profile of YES Bank, given the bank's sizeable exposure to weaker companies in the sector.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was trading at 39,895.26, down by 12.8 points or by 0.03 per cent, and the NSE Nifty was at 11934.9, down by 11.85 points or by 0.1 per cent.
Edited by Chitranjan Kumar