1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Turnaround
Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), the polite old private bank from Tamil Nadu that investors ignored for years like yesterday’s filter coffee, is suddenly dropping ₹574 Cr quarterly profit, clocking 39% YoY PAT growth, and quietly flexing GNPA below 1%. Current market cap sits at ₹25,651 Cr, stock price around ₹265, with a P/E of ~11x and P/B of ~2x. ROE is flirting with 18%, ROA at 1.73%, and NIM is holding strong at ~4.2%.
Three-month return? ~9%. One-year return? ~36%. Five-year stock CAGR? ~48%.
This is no longer a “recovery story.” This is a post-recovery execution story pretending to be boring.
Deposits crossed ₹1.02 lakh Cr, advances at ₹74,400 Cr, CASA slipped to 30% (yes, that stings), but asset quality looks cleaner than most bank balance sheets after RBI inspection.
Question for you already: Is the market still pricing KVB as a regional relic, while numbers scream mid-tier private bank?
2. Introduction – From Value Trap to Value… Actually Delivering?
For a decade, Karur Vysya Bank lived in the penalty box. High NPAs, mediocre growth, management questions, and zero investor excitement. It was that bank analysts mentioned only when talking about “what went wrong in PSU-lite private banks.”
Fast-forward to FY24–FY26, and the script has flipped.
GNPA dropped from 6.03% (FY22) to ~0.76%, NNPA collapsed to ~0.19%, recoveries are flowing in, and profitability metrics are behaving like a disciplined private lender.
But here’s the fun part: the stock is still valued like it hasn’t earned redemption.
At ~11x earnings and ~2x book, KVB is cheaper than most peers with inferior asset quality.
Yet, it’s not without flaws. CASA has slipped, promoter holding is a microscopic ~2%, and contingent liabilities of ₹16,366 Cr loom like a footnote investors hate reading.
So the big question:
Is KVB a
boring compounder hiding behind a dull brand, or a value mirage riding a good cycle?
Let’s tear it apart, EduInvesting-style.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Karur Vysya Bank does banking. No unicorn jargon. No fancy fintech cosplay. Just deposits, loans, treasury, and some fee income on the side.
Segment Mix FY24
- Retail Banking – 64%
Your usual home loans, personal loans, MSME, agri borrowers, jewel loans. This is the engine room. - Corporate / Wholesale – ~18%
Carefully rationed exposure now, unlike the YOLO years. - Treasury – ~17%
Government securities, bonds, forex, derivatives – basically making money by not lending sometimes. - Other Banking Ops – ~1%
Bancassurance, demat, third-party products. Small, but margin-friendly.
Customer base grew from 56 lakh (FY16) to 79+ lakh, proving this isn’t a shrinking southern relic.
Branch network expanded to ~899 branches, with 40% semi-urban, 25% metro, 19% urban, and 16% rural exposure. Translation: stable deposits, slower CASA growth, but lower volatility.
KVB isn’t trying to be HDFC Bank. It’s trying to be a profitable, conservative, regionally strong private lender. And honestly? That’s working.
Lazy investor question: Would you rather own a flashy loss-making fintech or a dull bank minting ₹500+ Cr every quarter?
4. Financials Overview – Numbers That Actually Behave
| Metric | Latest Qtr | YoY Qtr | Prev Qtr | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2,808 | 2,387 | 2,569 | 17.6% | 9.3% |
| PBT | 743 | 636 | 687 | 16.8% | 8.2% |
| PAT | 574 | 474 | 521 | 21.1% | 10.2% |
| EPS (₹) | 5.94 | 4.90 | 5.40 | 21.2% | 10.0% |
