INDUS INDUS BANK--BUY
The bank has been able to maintain steady asset quality in spite of its exposure to truck financing. August 3, 2013: Recent measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to curb liquidity and arrest the steep fall in the rupee have sent most banking stocks hurtling down. Among those that have borne the brunt is IndusInd Bank, which has corrected 16 per cent in the last one month. The concern has been due to the bank’s higher dependence on costlier wholesale short-term deposits. This could increase its cost of funds in the near term and impact its net interest margin (NIM). While NIM may see some pressure in the short term, the long term prospects of the bank still seem strong. Its earnings have grown at an annual average of 45 per cent over the past three years. The bank has improved its return on assets significantly from 1.1 per cent in 2009-10 to 1.8 per cent bringing it on par with most leading private sector banks. A growing and well diversified loan book, improvi...