Bandhan Bank Q3 Profit Surges Over 200% to Rs 733 Crore

Kolkata/New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI) Private sector Bandhan Bank on Friday reported over two-fold increase in net profit at Rs 733 crore for the third quarter ended December 2023 on account of improvement in core income.

The Kolkata-based new generation bank had posted a net profit of Rs 291 crore in the year-ago period.

The bank's total income increased to Rs 5,210 crore in the latest December quarter from Rs 4,840.94 crore a year ago, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The interest income also improved to Rs 4,665 crore as against Rs 3,808 crore in the third quarter of the previous fiscal.

Net interest income rose to Rs 2,530 crore from Rs 2,080 in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

On the asset quality front, the bank recorded an improvement with gross NPAs (Non-Performing Assets) declining to 7 per cent, as compared to 7.2 per cent at the end of October-December quarter of previous fiscal.

However, net NPAs increased to 2.2 per cent as against 1.9 per cent in the previous year.

Provision and contingencies nearly halved to Rs 684 crore over Rs 1,541 crore in FY23.

However, the capital adequacy ratio declined to 17.86 per cent in the December quarter as against 19.10 per cent.

MD&CEO of Bandhan Bank Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said that secured loans of the bank as a percentage of total advances stood at 44.5 per cent at the end of the third quarter.

The target is to take this percentage of secured loans to 50 per cent by 2025-26.

Ghosh said that with liquidity in a tight situation, the bank is comfortably placed as deposits are higher than advances.

Operating profit of the bank during the third quarter declined to Rs 1660 crore from Rs 1920 crore in the similar previous period.

The fall in operating profit in the current third quarter has been due to the sale of an NPA of Rs 410 crore in the third quarter of last financial year which added to the profit. This non-recurring item is not there in the current third quarter.

He said that the bank has registered growth across various segments of business. "We expect the growth momentum to continue," he said.

Net interest margin of the bank at the end of third quarter stood at 7.2 per cent. "We would like to maintain NIM between seven to 7.5 per cent at the end of current financial year", he said.

The GNPA of the bank improved to seven per cent at the end of the third quarter. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.8 per cent.

The collection efficiency ratio of the bank at the end of the third quarter stood at 98 per cent.

The bank presently has 6250 banking outlets, including branches, ATMs and other touching points, across the country.

Net interest income of the bank increased 21 per cent at Rs 2525 crore during the third quarter as against Rs 2081 crore in the previous similar period. PTI DP dc