India’s Youngest Bank Is The World’s Most Expensive Lender

Bandhan Bank Ltd. has become the world’s most expensive lender within five months of making its stock-market debut.

The microlender-turned-universal bank trades at a Bloomberg-estimated price-to-book multiple of 6.83 times, the highest among peers with a market of at least Rs 5,000 crore.

A robust growth in balance sheet, highest margin among banking peers at about 9 percent and a relatively lower gross bad loan ratio of 1.26 percent have aided the bank’s return ratios. The stock has risen 87 percent over its IPO price to Rs 730 apiece since its March 27 listing.

Interestingly, five of the eight most expensive listed banks are Indian private lenders—including IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and RBL Bank.

The rest are from South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam.