** Shares of IDFC First Bank IDFB.NS up 2.23% at 68.71rupees
** Private bank posted nearly 5% y/y increase in net profit to 3.19 billion rupees ($33.86 million) on Saturday
** Co had earlier disclosed a deposit-related fraud of about 6.45 billion rupees
STRONGER UNDERLYING PERFORMANCE DESPITE FRAUD-LINKED HIT TO PROFIT
** Jefferies ("Buy"; TP: 82 rupees) says Q4 profit beat estimates due to lower credit costs and higher fees; expects improving credit costs to support profitability ahead
** BofA Securities ("neutral"; TP: 75 rupees) points to stronger margins and sequentially improving asset quality, which should aid gradual recovery in return ratios
** Nomura ("buy"; TP: 85 rupees) says resilient margins and improving slippage trends supporting earnings recovery
** UBS ("sell"; TP: 70 rupees) says underlying net interest income remained strong, but flags bank's return profile still lags peers
($1 = 94.2100 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru)
((Surbhi.Misra@thomsonreuters.com | X: https://twitter.com/SurbhiMisra_ |;))