India’s once-troubled banks are generating huge profits

Indian banks' recent annual earnings have been spectacular, yet state-owned institutions still trade at just a fraction of their book value. Find out what lies behind this unlikely turnaround in NewsBites' summary of India's once-troubled banks generating huge profits.

June 25, 2023 . 5:39 PM

1 min read

Indian banks' recent annual earnings have been spectacular, with state lenders leading the way.
During the first half of the 2010s, Indian banks had strong numbers but were rolling over bad loans to avoid recognising losses.
Reality eventually intruded, and an accelerant came in the form of scandals over the allocation of government licences.
In 2015, an "asset-quality review" was initiated, leading to write-downs and failures in energy, steel and telecoms.
Many state-owned institutions still trade at just a fraction of their book value, meaning they are worth more dead than alive.