A Comparative Study On Kerala’s Private Sector Banks

Abstract

The research analyzes four private sector banks Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Catholic Syrian Bank financially using CAMELS framework. Federal Bank has solid capital and overall financial health, while CSB and South Indian Bank are a mixed bag, with Dhanlaxmi Bank seemingly plagued by severe inefficiencies. The Federal Bank appears very stable and Dhanlaxmi Bank, on the contrary, without showing any trend, has below average liquidity and profitability. Along with that, Dhanlaxmi Bank also underperforms in terms of assets causing it to lag peers in a number of dimensions. Catholic Syrian Bank on the other hand performs reasonably well to average in relation to peers in asset quality. The research makes relative comparisons of banks from 2019 to 2024 using available data for their Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management Efficiency, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity. The ANOVA and subsequent testing clearly show the differences in evaluation metrics, including both productivity and efficiency. The analysis illustrates the impact of the strategic response each bank chose to employ in dealing with the financial headwinds during and after COVID on performance. The conclusions highlight the value–denoting the gaps that private investors, industry regulators, and other banking stakeholders interested in the operational resilience and effective resource utilization of regional private sector banks would find useful.