Equitas SFB swings back to ₹184 Cr profit YoY as provisions normalise; PAT down 14% QoQ

Equitas Small Finance Bank (standalone; it has no subsidiaries, so no consolidated statement) posted a Q1 FY27 net profit of ₹183.6 Cr, a turnaround from the ₹223.8 Cr loss in the year-ago quarter. The swing is almost entirely a provisioning story: credit provisions & contingencies fell to ₹160.7 Cr from a bloated ₹612.2 Cr in Q1 FY26, when a stressed micro-finance book forced heavy write-downs. Interest earned rose 18.9% YoY to ₹1,960.4 Cr and pre-provision operating profit grew ~28.6% YoY to ₹404.7 Cr, so the core franchise expanded even before the provision relief. Sequentially the print softened: PAT fell 13.7% from ₹212.7 Cr in Q4 FY26 even as interest earned grew 6.8% QoQ and pre-provision profit was roughly flat. The squeeze sits on two lines — provisions rose QoQ from ₹124.1 Cr to ₹160.7 Cr as credit costs normalise toward the ~1.5% full-year level management guided (up from Q4's seasonal 1.11% low), and quarterly ROA eased to 0.29% from 0.35%. That ~1.16% annualised ROA is tracking a touch below the 1.2–1.25% FY27 guidance, but it is an early-quarter read and management targets a ~1.5% exit ROA by Q4 FY27. Asset quality and growth back the turnaround: GNPA improved to 2.42% (from 2.60% QoQ, 2.92% YoY) and net NPA to 0.71%, while the July 2 business update showed gross advances up 26.7% YoY to ₹47,653 Cr — comfortably ahead of the 20%+ advances-growth guidance — with deposits up 10.4%. Capital adequacy stands at 19.44% (Basel II), down from 20.31%, consistent with the board's concurrent move to approve a capital raise in June. No brokerage consensus PAT estimate for the quarter was locatable, so the print is not graded against Street. The result confirms rather than contradicts management's cautiously-optimistic May concall tone — provisions are normalising as flagged and ROA is being rebuilt, with the near-term drag being deposit-cost-led NIM moderation from the 7.29% Q4 peak.