Yes Bank shares go into tailspin

Mumbai: Shares of Yes Bank on Friday tumbled over five per cent following uncertainty over the continuation of Rana Kapoor as the managing director & CEO.

The scrip of the private sector lender closed at Rs 343.40 on the BSE, a drop of Rs 18.50, or 5.11 per cent, over the previous finish. Earlier in the day, the counter cracked 6.6 per cent to hit a low of Rs 338.

Shares on the NSE tumbled 5.18 per cent to close at Rs 343. Nearly 49.74 lakh shares were traded on the BSE and over 8 crore on the NSE.

In four sessions, the Yes Bank scrip had slumped 10.36 per cent, wiping out Rs 9,069.93 crore from the bank's market valuation, which now stands at Rs 79,261.07 crore.

The scrip came under renewed pressure after the lender said late on Thursday that it had received the RBI's approval for the continuance of Kapoor as MD and CEO of the bank "till further notice''.

At its annual general meeting in June, the shareholders of the bank had approved the re-appointment of Kapoor for three years, subject to the RBI's approval.

"The RBI has left the Street confused on Rana Kapoor's reappointment. We hazard a guess, but in our opinion, the reappointment may not be a clean one, and while all the options are possible, the Street is likely to react negatively," analysts at Jefferies said.

"While we continue with our buy rating for now, given a lack of full disclosure, we do note that one of the downside catalysts seems to have been triggered... If indeed, Rana Kapoor has created a franchise, and we believe he has, the long-term upside will materialise.

"The challenge, in our opinion, would be the thin capital position and lack of visibility on the top management continuity," they added.

Yes Bank