Government-owned Central Bank of India on Tuesday reported a 7 per cent rise in its net profit to ₹174 crore in the January to March period against ₹162 crore in the year-ago period. The profit was backed by healthy recoveries and lower slippages.

Net interest income (NII) increased 12 per cent to ₹1,922 crore from ₹1,715 crore last year.

Provisions for the quarter rose 14 per cent to ₹617 crore from ₹542 crore a year ago.

Recoveries However, gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances dipped during the three-month period to 6.09 per cent, as compared to 6.27 per cent a year ago. Net NPA also declined to 3.61 per cent from 3.75 per cent.

Fresh slippages during the quarter reduced to ₹1,471 crore from ₹2,034 in the March quarter last year. Recoveries doubled to ₹635 crore in Q4 FY15 from ₹245 crore in Q4 FY14. For the full year, the bank clocked a net profit of ₹606 crore as against a loss of ₹1,263 crore in the previous fiscal.

As on March end, total advances and deposits grew by 6 per cent each year-on-year.

Central Bank expects advances growth in FY16 to be at 9.2 per cent, and deposit growth at 14.8 per cent. It also aims to contain gross NPA at 5.25 per cent.

Fund raising The lender plans to raise ₹2,800 crore through a Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) or Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) in this fiscal. The bank’s Board has recommended a dividend of ₹0.50 per equity share of face value ₹10 each, that is, 5 per cent for FY15.

At the day’s close, Central Bank of India shares ended at ₹109.40, down 2.06 per cent on the BSE.

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