Yield on advances

The average interest rate a lender earns on its loan book.

A bank earning ₹4,200 crore on ₹42,000 crore of average advances yields 10%.

A high yield is not by itself good news. It usually means the bank lends to riskier borrowers, and the extra spread has to cover the extra losses that arrive later in the cycle. Comparing yield across lenders without comparing their credit cost is how unsecured lenders look extraordinarily profitable for three years.

Subtract credit cost from spread before ranking anything.