Equitas Small Finance Bank‘s recent 30% stock plunge following the resignation of Founder and Chief Executive Officer PN Vasudevan appears to be a market overreaction, according to Nilesh Shah, Founder, Envision Capital.
The stock corrected from ₹70 to around ₹50, wiping out nearly ₹2,000 crore in market capitalisation and dragging the bank’s overall valuation below ₹6,000 crore. Vasudevan stepped down, citing a conflict-of-interest overhang, as his daughter is a co-promoter at another non-banking financial company (NBFC). He stated the decision aims to unlock the bank’s real value and ensure longer-term value creation.
Shah noted that having a family member lead another NBFC is not inherently problematic, provided there are no undisclosed dealings. “I just feel that probably the market seems to have overreacted,” he said.
Vasudevan confirmed to CNBC-TV18 that his decision is final and he will not reverse course, adding that the bank will now search for a successor. He assured that long-term growth, asset quality, and the return on assets (ROA) ratio remain on track, with no hidden issues expected to emerge.
Initial knee-jerk selloffs following sudden leadership changes have shown mixed recovery trajectories in the past. For instance, following the resignation of Girish Kousgi, the associated stock (PNB Housing Finance) fell around 17% before rallying 30% higher than its pre-announcement level.
Similarly, Navin Fluorine shares dropped up to 20% on the resignation of Managing Director and CEO Radhesh Welling but have since surged close to 120% from 2023 to date. Conversely, Cyient shares corrected 20% on a similar announcement and remained down by the same margin.
Watch the full conversation here
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Separately, when asked to identify a winning market theme between now and next summer, Shah strongly favoured the “new economy,” specifically highlighting consumer fintech, healthcare, and technology-powered businesses.
“Just spot that which business has the DNA of technology, innovation. I think they will be the disruptors, they will be the champions, they’ll be the Sikandars (winners),” Shah said.
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Is Equitas SFB stock fall after CEO a market overreaction? Here’s what Envision’s Nilesh Shah thinks