EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The market has not been kind to Axis Bank after its 1QFY2020 results. The share price has fallen 7%, as compared with a fall in the NIFTY of only 2%. While analysts have raised concerns on the elevated credit costs and high slippages to gross non-performing assets, the major issue remains whether the surge in share price that welcomed the arrival of Amitabh Chaudhry, the new CEO, was premature, and whether the entry of erstwhile HDFC Bank executives in Axis Bank would take time to address the underlying legacy concerns on asset quality. The continuing sharp growth in retail loans, especially in unsecured personal loans and automobile loans, could also add to concerns as the economic slowdown deepens.
