India's Bandhan Bank shines after CLSA keeps 'outperform', citing better asset quality

** Shares of India's Bandhan Bank BANH.NS rise 3.1% to 180.3 rupees apiece

** CLSA says among microfinance lenders, BANH has outperformed larger rival IndusInd Bank INBK.NS as well as smaller peers on asset quality in the March quarter

** Brokerage reiterates high-conviction "outperform" rating on BANH

** Says BANH's annualised gross slippage ratio of 10% was significantly below Creditaccess Grameen CRDE.NS, Fusion Finance FUSN.NS and INBK

** Sees only marginal pain for BANH in terms of asset quality going forward, compared with peers

** CLSA reiterates "underperform" on CRDE and FUSN; CRDE shares down 0.8%, FUSN shares up 0.5%

** BANH shares up 10% in 2025 so far, mirroring the 12% rise in private bank index .NIFPVTBNK