Bandhan Bank on Friday posted a 20.3 per cent increase in net profit at ₹388 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2018, but bad loans in its micro-finance portfolio saw a sharp rise.
The bank had posted a net profit of ₹322 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal.
Its net profit for 2017-18 also increased by 21 per cent at ₹1,346 crore against ₹1,112 crore in 2016-17. However, the bank said the impact of the triple blows of note-ban, roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax and the farm loan waiver, is still evident in the micro-lending segment, which constitutes nearly 72 per cent of its assets.
“Stress continues in the micro lending segment although it is on a declining trend,” said Chandra Sekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and CEO, Bandhan Bank.
The bank’s gross-non performing assets went up nearly three times to 1.25 per cent during the fourth quarter of the fiscal against a historical average of about 0.4 per cent.
Net NPAs as a percentage of net advances also rose to 0.58 per cent in the fourth quarter of last fiscal.
Ghosh said the bank had to write off ₹51 crore of advances in 2017-18 due to stress.
Provisions
Its provisions, however, increased by nearly 200 per cent at ₹109.08 crore from the ₹36.44 crore in the year-ago period. Bandhan Bank also reported a 25.2 per cent increase in its net interest income at ₹863 crore in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 compared to ₹689 crore a year ago.
Meanwhile, its non-interest income jumped 57.4 per cent to ₹203 crore.
In 2017-18, its net interest income rose 26.1 per cent at ₹ 3,032 crore.
“During the year, the bank’s share of non-micro advances to total advances increased to 14 per cent from 9 per cent,” it said in a statement.
It also registered a 37.4 per cent growth in advances and 45.8 per cent spike in deposits.