Daily Brief Financials: Indusind Bank, Secure Trust Bank, GCash, NIFTY Index and more

• Indusind Bank (IIB IN) reported 51% attrition in FY2023 from 37% in FY2022
• In the annual report the directors completely ignored acknowledging or discussing the attrition apart from the mandatory disclosure
• The sharply rising attrition indicates poor human resource policies in recruitment and training which adversely impact cost management

In its H123 results, Secure Trust Bank (STB) delivered an 11% y o y increase in operating income, overcoming margin pressure on rising interest rates. However, PBT was £16.5m, 4% lower than in H122 as the bank incurred a one-off impairment charge of £7.0m stemming from a long-standing debt case in Commercial Finance. Excluding this charge, PBT was £23.5m, which implies a 6% beat on our estimates on an annualised basis. Across the group, underlying impairments are resilient, especially in Vehicle Finance where impairments fell to 2.4% (H122: 8.0%) as lending shifted to prime borrowers. We have increased our FY23 and FY24 continuing PBT forecasts to £45m and £55m respectively, leaving the stock trading at P/E ratios of only 4.0x in FY23 and 3.1x in FY24.

• Fintech adoption in ASEAN shows significant potential driven by increased smartphone adoption, internet penetration and a growing middle-class population.
• More than 70% of population in the region is either unbanked/underbanked, creating a favourable landscape for FinTech enterprises to create solutions and establish market presence.
• In this Original, we have deep dived into three key fintech players in the region including Coda Payments, Akulaku and GCash operating across some of largest markets in the region.

• After a -5 weeks correction in August, the NIFTY Index has restarted its Bull run, ongoing from mid-March 2020. Let’s have a look to where MRM WEEKLY resistance levels are.
• The current pattern is BULLISH, the index could rise easily another 2-3 weeks from here.
• Target prices for a reversal (or pullback within the uptrend) are between 19846 -20294