SBI Cards' m-cap surpasses Rs 1-trillion mark as stock hits new high

At 03:29 pm, SBI Cards recorded an m-cap of Rs 1.01 trillion and stood at 34th position in the overall ranking, BSE data showed

SBI Cards and Payment Services, on Thursday, joined the elite companies having market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 1 trillion after the company's stock price rallied 5 per cent to Rs 1,077, also its new high, on the BSE in the intra-day trade.

At 03:29 pm, SBI Cards recorded an m-cap of Rs 1.01 trillion and stood at 34th position in the overall m-cap ranking, BSE data show. On Wednesday, the company was at 37th position, having surpassed Tata Motors, Shree Cement and JSW Steel.

Thus far in the calendar year 2021, SBI Cards has outperformed the market by surging 27 per cent, as compared to a 7.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

In the October-December quarter (Q3FY21), SBI Cards had seen a sharp improvement in asset quality. It's gross non-performing assets (GNPA) were at 1.61 per cent of gross advances as on Q3FY21 as against 2.47 per cent as on Q3FY20. Net non-performing assets (NNPA) were at 0.56 per cent as against 0.83 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

The proforma GNPA was 4.5 per cent relative to 7.5 per cent the previous quarter, a 300 basis points (bps) improvement quarter on quarter. The company had higher write offs (Rs 650 crore loans) than in other quarters. Moreover, recoveries also were high, a reflection of the collection effort.

“Taking concrete steps to improve asset quality, SBI Cards and Payment Services has written off loans and improved recoveries. Though, higher operational costs and lower yield have cut into profitability that is expected to be relevant only for this quarter. Credit- card spends rose due to the festival season and even had comparatively a better market share,” analysts at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers said in company update.

Provision sufficiency with limited incremental requirement, controlled delinquencies as the company tightens credit filters further and continued business momentum (shift in portfolios on corporate side, pick-up in POS activities) should gravitate SBI Cards on path of revival in FY22, analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher said in results update.