Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank fell almost 2 percent in the early trade on Tuesday after brokerages raised concerns over slow loan growth of the bank.

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The stock fell 1.94 percent to Rs 1,586.50 as against the previous close of Rs 1,618.05 on the BSE. At 12:00 pm, the stock was trading 0.83 percent lower at Rs 1,604 per share.

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Monday reported a 24 percent rise year-on-year (YoY) in its third-quarter standalone net profit at Rs 1,596 crore as compared to Rs 1,291 crore in the same quarter last year.

The private lender delivered slower than expected consolidated loan growth of 7.5 percent. Net interest income (NII) growth at 16.8 percent was supported by strong net interest margins at 4.66 percent as the cost of funds was lower.

Global brokerage Jefferies retained ‘underperform’ rating on the stock while it cut the target price (TP) to Rs 1,375 from Rs 1,380 per share.

Citi maintained a ‘neutral’ rating with a TP of Rs 1,860 per share but it lowered FY20 & FY21 profit estimates by 4 percent as the brokerage factors in lower growth.

The brokerage said that it expects the bank to maintain its conservative stance on lending as stressed loans in its loan book rose in the December quarter.

Credit Suisse maintained a ‘neutral’ rating and TP at Rs 1,450 per share as it feels Q3FY20 earnings were below estimates. The global research house also cut its estimates by 5-7 percent as the bank remains cautious on the growth outlook.

The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances rose by 6 bps to 2.46 while net NPA increased by 4 bps to 0.89 percent QoQ.

Gross NPA rose 7.5 percent to Rs 5,413.2 crore while net NPA rose 6.3 percent to Rs 1,925.1 crore on quarter.