UBS, a global brokerage firm has downgraded its stance on SBI and Axis Bank to “sell” and “neutral”, respectively.
UBS flagged a rise in loans to borrowers with weak profiles.
From a study it conducted, the brokerage firm found that the share of loans to borrowers with overdue loans in the Indian Banking systemhas risen to 23% in 2022-23 as compared to 12% in 2018-19
The brokerage firm reckoned that the share of unsecured loans as a percentage of the total lending in the books of SBI was 11.1%, while the same for Axis Bank was 10.7% in June, 2023
it further expects the credit costs for Indian banks under its portfolio to rise by 5 to 10 basis points in this fiscal year, ruling out a re-evaluation of its rating.