Bandhan Bank Q4 Net Dips, Asset Quality Improves

Kolkata, May 17 (PTI) Bandhan Bank on Friday reported a decline in net profit to Rs 55 crore in the quarter ended March as against Rs 808 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The fall in the bottomline was due to higher provisioning during the January-March quarter at Rs 1,774 crore compared with Rs 735 crore in the year-earlier period, MD and CEO of Bandhan Bank, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, said.

Ghosh said the bank had written-off Rs 3,852 crore in the fourth quarter, while fresh slippages stood at Rs 1,017 crore.

"A major portion of the slippages were from micro-finance advances. Recovery and upgradation during the fourth quarter of the last fiscal stood at Rs 516 crore,” he said.

The Kolkata-based lender's operating profit was Rs 1,838 crore in the reporting quarter, marginally lower from Rs 1,796 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Ghosh, who is retiring as MD and CEO from July, said going forward, "we expect the growth momentum to continue and also build a strong retail franchise".

He said after retirement, he will play a strategic role in the holding company, Bandhan Financial Holdings.

Executive search firm Egon Zehnder has been appointed to find a suitable successor to Ghosh.

Bandhan Bank's deposits at the end of the fourth quarter stood at Rs 1.35 lakh crore, while gross advances grew 14.5 per cent to Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

The lender also reported an improvement in asset quality in January-March. The gross non-performing assets came in lower at 3.8 per cent in the quarter to March as against 4.9 per cent a year ago, while net NPA stood at 1.1 per cent.

Net interest margin was at 7.6 per cent in the reporting quarter.

CASA deposits of the bank stood at Rs 50,151 crore, while the CASA ratio was 37.1 per cent.

The collection efficiency ratio for micro-credit was 99 per cent in the fourth quarter, and capital adequacy ratio stood at 18.3 per cent.