Jana Small Finance Bank shares slump 5% as RBI returns universal bank application

Shares of Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd (JSFB) fell sharply in Tuesday's trade after the lender announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) returned its application for conversion into a universal bank. The stock declined 4.76 per cent to hit a low of Rs 434.95 on BSE.

In a filing, JSFB said, "The RBI has returned the application made for Voluntary Transition to Universal Bank due to non-fulfilment of the criteria mentioned in the RBI circular in this regard." The lender had submitted the application earlier this year.

Earlier in October, the bank's board approved a capital raise of Rs 250 crore through the issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. These NCDs, which will be unsecured and subordinated, will form part of the bank's Lower Tier II capital under Basel II norms.

Financially, the bank reported a 40 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profit to Rs 102 crore for the April-June 2025 quarter, compared with Rs 171 crore a year earlier, mainly due to higher expenses. Total expenses increased 22 per cent to Rs 1,218 crore, while total income rose to Rs 1,516 crore from Rs 1,356 crore in the same period last year.

From a technical standpoint, JSFB's scrip traded higher than the 5-day simple moving average (SMA) but lower than the 10-day, 20-, 30-, 50-, 150-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs). Its 14-day relative strength index (RSI) came at 40.91. A level below 30 is defined as oversold while a value above 70 is considered overbought.

The scrip has a standalone price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.49 against a price-to-book (P/B) value of 1.22. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 39.06 with a return on equity (RoE) of 10.65. According to Trendlyne data, JSFB has a one-year beta of 1.1, indicating high volatility.

Around 25,000 shares were last seen changing hands on BSE today, higher than the two-week average volume of 11,000 shares. Turnover on the counter stood at Rs 1.09 crore, commanding a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 4,721.46 crore.

As on September 2025, promoters held a 21.87 per cent stake in JSFB.