RBL Bank Ltd shares are in news on Monday morning after the private lender's March quarter earnings missed analyst estimates, due to softer margin and fee income coupled with sustained stress in the credit card segment. Analysts said loan growth picked up at 21.8 per cent YoY with secured retail and wholesale advances growing 36 per cent YoY and 28 per cent YoY, respectively. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) improved 43 basis points QoQ to 1.5 per cent, but credit card slippages remained elevated, they said.

HDFC Institutional Equities said deposit growth stood at 22 per cent YoY, as CASA improved to 33.6 per cent, owing to seasonality in current accounts. Strong loan growth of 23 per cent YoY was led by wholesale and secured retail segments. With the RBI approval for NBD Emirates capital infusion received recently, this brokerage factored in the capital infusion of Rs 26,900 crore along with the merger of Emirates NBD India branches in FY27E. 

"While the capital infusion shall lead to reflation in tier I capital (up 30 per cent), loan growth (25 per cent), and lower funding costs, we argue that the franchise handicaps of sub-par deposit franchise, lack of competitive moats on the asset side, and persistently high opex ratios are likely to dominate any potential upsides from the deal," it said while suggesting a revised target of Rs 290 from Rs 230 earlier. 

Elara Securities said while strategic repair is underway, the current valuation of 1 times FY28E P/BV, following a 12 per cent outperformance in the past three months, largely captures the recent progress as well as residual risks. This brokerage wants greater consistency in earnings and return ratios before turning more constructive. 

"Our FY27/FY28 earnings broadly remains unchanged, and we introduce FY29 earnings estimate. We retain Accumulate, with a target of Rs 345, based on 1.1x FY28E P/BV, as we roll forward to March 2028E," it said.

RBL Bank's Q4 results were in-line with MOFSL estimates on net interest income (NII) and pre-provision operating profit (PPoP), while a lower-than-expected tax outgo led to an earnings beat. NIM, it said, declined 22 bps QoQ, impacted by yield compression and a shift in portfolio mix. Business growth, however, was strong, with the bank reiterating its loan growth guidance of 20 per cent, led by wholesale growth of 20-25 per cent and MFI/unsecured growth of 15-20 per cent, MOFSL said. 

"The bank continues to pursue calibrated expansion in the unsecured segment. Additionally, the capital infusion from Emirates NBD is expected to support stronger credit growth. On asset quality, slippages are expected to remain elevated in 1HFY27, primarily driven by credit cards, before moderating thereafter. We thus estimate RoA to recover to 1.3 per cent by FY28E. Reiterate BUY with a target of Rs 370 (1.3x Sep’27E ABV)," MOFSL said.