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Karnataka Bank Ltd recorded a net profit of ₹114.05 crore in the first quarter of 2022-23 as against ₹105.91 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2021-22, registering a growth of 7.69 per cent.
Speaking to BusinessLine after the meeting of the Board of Directors on Saturday, Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, attributed the growth to the consistent and sustainable performance over the period.
In spite of a temporary aberration of a corporate advance, which required 100 per cent provisioning, the slippage ratio is at 1.03 per cent, he said.
The loan book quality is steadily improving. Gross NPAs (non-performing assets) of the bank declined to 4.03 per cent in Q1 of 2022-23 as against 4.84 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. He said net NPAs also declined to 2.16 per cent (3.02 per cent) during the period.
The net interest income (NII) of the bank increased to ₹687.56 crore during Q1 of 2022-23 as against ₹574.79 crore in Q1 of 2021-22, recording a growth of 19.62 per cent.
Credit growth
Stating that the net interest margin (NIM) has further improved to 3.33 per cent, he said the increasing trend in NIM indicates the consistent improvement in all the contributing factors and is on expected lines.
Indicating the improvement in credit growth, he said there is 13.03 per cent growth in advances. “By September, I think, we will cross 15 per cent,” he said, adding, credit growth is quite positive and optimistic.
He said the capital adequacy ratio of the bank has further improved to 15.41 per cent, and the bank further strengthened its balance sheet by increasing the provision coverage ratio to 76.77 per cent during Q1 of 2022-23 against 72.16 per cent in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.
Outlook
On the outlook for the coming quarters, Mahabaleshwara said the bank will continue to focus on the credit growth. “Going forward, I am confident that with robust opportunities in the economy, we will continue to build up sequential momentum and hope to be consistent in our performance by working as per plan to ensure a sustainable growth,” he said.
Meanwhile, the board of directors of the bank also decided to seek the approval of the shareholders to raise the equity capital through QIP route for an amount not exceeding in the aggregate ₹1,000 crore.
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