RBL Bank in trouble: Might be replaced in Nifty50

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Private sector lender RBL Bank may get excluded from the Nifty Bank index by National Stock Exchange (NSE) in its upcoming review due in March 2022, while Bank of Baroda could make an entry, according to a latest report by Edelweiss Securities.The index change is expected to take place after the recent developments at the bank. On December 25, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed Yogesh Dayal as an additional director on RBL Bank’s board and on the same day, Vishwavir Ahuja, managing director and CEO, went on leave with immediate effect. Dayal is the chief general manager in charge of the department of communication.

Following the developments, the stock tumbled for the second consecutive session on December 27.It cracked 24.7 percent intraday today, and fell 2.83 percent in the previous session. Shares of RBL Bank finally settled at Rs 140.95, down 18.48 percent on the NSE on Monday.Also read – RBL Bank shares hit 52-week low post RBI action; what should investors do?”RBL Bank could get excluded from Nifty Bank,”the Edelweiss report said.”We continue to believe in the forthcoming Nifty Bank Review that Bank of Baroda holds a very strong chance of replacing RBL Bank,” the brokerage added. Edelweiss will be coming up with final predictions on it in the first half of January 2022.The NSE will announce the change in indexes in second half of February 2022 and the rebalancing of indexes will take place on the last day of March 2022.

Executive Director Rajeev Ahuja is appointed as the interim MD and CEO of RBL Bank, who on December 26, said the bank and its top management has the full support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and asset quality issues are addressed.

In a conference call with the media, he clarified and said, “The (recent) developments are not on account of asset quality, advances issues. The bank has the full support of the RBI.”

RBI issued a statement on Monday, saying “RBL Bank is well capitalised and the financial position remains satisfactory. As per half yearly audited results, as on September 30, 2021, RBL has maintained a comfortable capital adequacy ratio of 16.33 percent and provision coverage ratio of 76.6 percent.”

The Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of the bank is 153 percent as on December 24, 2021 as against regulatory requirement of 100 percent, the central bank added.