Sharply higher provisioning dragged Bandhan Bank’s March quarter net profit down by 93% at Rs 55 crore against Rs 808 crore in the year-ago period.
Its operating profit saw a muted 2.4% rise at Rs 1839 crore due to higher expenditure.
Its net interest margin for the quarter was 7.6% against 7.3% in the same quarter last year. Net interest income rose 16% at 2866 crore.
The bank’s quarterly provisions were 141% higher at Rs 1774 crore, while the private sector lender has written off bad loans to the tune of Rs 3852 crore.
The balance sheet cleansing exercise helped its gross non-performing assets ratio improve to 3.84% at the end of the fiscal as compared with 4.87%. The bank is still carrying a stressed portfolio of about Rs 4700 crore, out of which Rs 4100 crore was on account of the bank’s flagship lending to the bottom of the pyramid customers.
Managing director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, however, exuded confidence of the bank doing better going forward, saying that the majority of the bad loans generated between 2020 and 2022 was cleaned.
Ghosh, the founder of the bank, will remit his office on July 9 while the bank is in the process of finding his successor.
He pointed to a possibility of an interim head if no one joins before his retirement.
The lender’s total advances rose 14.5% year-on-year to Rs 1.25 lakh crore while the deposit book stood at Rs.1.35 lakh crore, registering a 25% rise.
On being asked about the status of the audit conducted on its claim under credit guarantee fund, Ghosh expressed hopes of an outcome in favour of the bank.
The board of the bank recommended a dividend of Rs 1.50 per share.
