SBI Cards' scarcity premium, high growth to overshadow its book quality

Penetration opportunity, shift to digitalisation will remain long-term triggers for the stock

SBI Cards and Payment Services or SBI Cards was the most anticipated public issues of 2020. While it was a laggard post listing and the lockdown aggravated its underperformance, with year-to-date gains of 8.5 per cent, the stock hasn’t outperformed its banking peers, thus making for an attractive investment narrative.

Calling it the quintessential India opportunity, analysts at Macquarie Capital expect the company to deliver 32 per cent annually compounded earnings growth and an average return on equity of 28 per cent in FY20-FY23, primarily driven by 25 per cent plus growth in cards outstanding. These growth estimates are almost