Valuations of private sector banks are now slightly getting stretched even though there isn’t a doubt that these institutions have better-managed balance sheets than their public sector counterparts, says Sandeep Bhatia, executive director & head of sales, Kotak Institutional Equities, in an interview to CNBC-TV18. He advised investors to have no exposure to PSU banks.

Speaking on market, Bhatia said the current flow of liquidity from the US will tend to slowdown in the next two years although it will be in abundance in Europe and Japan and India can enjoy some of the benevolence coming from Japan.

Maintaining that both market and outperforming stocks are capped by valuations, Bhatia said there are not many investors on the street who would place their bets on cheaper stocks. He is doubtful of an improvement in India’s macro situation but remains bullish on the pharma sector .

Below is the verbatim transcript of his interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: What is the mood on banking right now because this quarter has been so disparate in terms of earnings good earnings from private sector but not so good from public sector banks?

A: Yes that is true. The balance sheets of the public sector are showing signs of strain. Our belief is that if the economy does not improve in the next 18 months there would be further strain on the balance sheets of the public sector banks.

The private sector banks have carved themselves a very good niche. They are focused on the retail side of the asset much more. Their balance sheet management and working processes are much more stringent. So, clearly we see less stress on the balance sheets there but valuations are getting stretched on the private sector banks. This differentiation between private sector and public sector will run for some more time but it will be clearly stretched valuation for private sector banks which have to be watched for.

Q: How are you mapping the whole infra space now, which is connected to the banking world very closely. Are you seeing any signs of recovery because company earnings have been quite weak almost without exception over the last four-five days?

A: For a long time we have been saying that we do not see a quick recovery in infrastructure space. Their balance sheets are stretched, execution is still not happening, so clearly there are issues which will not go away soon. There needs to be a significant change in policy confidence, which is not going to come in a hurry. Therefore, the public sector banks will bear the brunt of this and which is why the markets have been differentiating between public sector and private sector banks.

There doesn’t seem to be a quick way out of the woods for infrastructure, and the public sector banks exposure to these companies.