Bandhan Bank Q4 net profit declines 58% to ₹808 crore

Bandhan Bank registered a 58 per cent drop in net profit at ₹808 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, as against ₹1,902 crore in the same period last year. The drop in net profit was primarily on account of a lack of provisioning in the fourth quarter of last fiscal (FY22) as compared with ₹740 crore during the fourth quarter of FY23.

According to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO, Bandhan Bank, the bank had taken an accelerated provisioning to the tune of ₹4,000 crore in the second quarter of FY22, and so it did not have to take any further provisioning during the subsequent quarters. However, during 2022–23, the bank has been taking provisions every quarter, so the net profit during Q4 of FY23 may not be comparable with the same period last year.

On a sequential basis, net profit during the quarter under review was up by nearly 178 per cent from ₹290 crore in Q3 . Provisions during the quarter had increased by over 91 per cent to ₹1,542 crore.

Lack of provisioning

“We had taken an accelerated provisioning of around ₹4,000 crore in the second quarter of last fiscal, and this had resulted in a net loss for the bank. But we did not have to do much provisioning during the third and fourth quarters. However, this year we have taken provisioning every quarter,” Ghosh told newspersons at a press conference post announcing the bank’s results here on Friday.

The bank’s board has recommended a dividend of ₹1.50 per equity share with a face value of ₹10 each (15 per cent) for the financial year ended March 31, 2023.

Net interest income dropped by nearly three per cent to ₹2,472 crore during the quarter under review as against ₹2,539 crore during the same period last year. Non-interest income came down by 35 per cent to ₹630 crore (₹970 crore).

The bank registered a 1,642 per cent jump in net profit to ₹2,195 crore for the year ended March 31, 2023, as against ₹126 crore in FY22.

The net interest margin came down to 7.3 per cent (8.7 per cent). It expects NIM to be around 7–7.5 per cent in FY24.

The bank is expecting close to 20 per cent growth in deposits and advances in FY24. It had witnessed close to 10 per cent growth in advances during 2022–23.

Asset quality

On the asset quality front, the share of gross non-performing assets as a percentage of advances decreased to 4.87 per cent (6.46 per cent), while net NPA came down to 1.17 per cent (1.66 per cent).

“The bank registered close to 12 per cent growth in advances during the fourth quarter of FY23. So we expect normalcy to come back, and we are doing well and are on the path of growth,” he said.

The bank’s scrip closed at ₹237.95, down by 2.48 per cent on the BSE on Friday. 

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