Bank of India’s March quarter profit up by 142 percent
Mumbai:
State-run Bank of India on Tuesday reported 142.31 per cent growth in standalone profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 606 crore for the quarter ended March 2022 on higher net interest income (NII) and improved asset quality. Of.
This compares with a PAT of Rs 250 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
For the full year 2021-22, the lender reported a 57.60 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 3,405 crore from Rs 2,160 crore in FY11.
Talking to reporters, AK Das, Managing Director and CEO of the bank said, “The asset quality has further improved with the reduction in gross NPAs in terms of amount and percentage.”
He said that the emphasis of the bank is on advance growth rather than deposit growth. It also emphasized on outreach campaigns in the last financial year to drive business growth and build relationships with customers.
Net interest income (NII) grew 35.77 per cent to Rs 3,986 crore in Q4 FY22 as against Rs 2,936 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Net interest margin (NIM) increased to 2.58 per cent from 2.01 per cent.
Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) declined by 19.33 per cent to Rs 45,605 crore in March 2022 from Rs 56,535 crore in March 2021. The GNPA ratio declined from 13.77 per cent to 9.98 per cent.
The net NPA ratio stood at 2.34 per cent as against 3.35 per cent.
Mr Das said that the gross NPAs are expected to be less than 8 per cent by March 2023.
He further said that the bank’s exposure to Future Group is around Rs 1,045 crore and it has made 100 per cent provisions for the account. For Srei Group, where its exposure is Rs 963 crore, 50 per cent provision has been made.
The bank has projected credit growth of around 10-12 per cent in the current financial year.
Mr Das said corporate credit growth in FY12 was muted.
For the entire previous year, the lender sanctioned over Rs 70,000 crore, but the profit was less than about Rs 29,000 crore. Even the benefit of overdraft (OD) limit was around 68-69 per cent.
“We believe that this time around, apart from the MSME, mid-cap segment, the corporate segment will get additional focus, which will be helped by the fact that the government has come out with a number of initiatives like the Rs 7.5 lakh crore capex scheme, the multiplier of which impact and create new demand.
“We also have enough capital for the growth of the corporate sector. I think 10-12 per cent (credit growth) is the minimum that we can expect this year,” Das said.
As on March 31, 2022, the capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) of the bank stood at 17.04 per cent as against 14.93 per cent in March 2021.
On capital raising plans, Mr Das said the lender could raise Rs 2,500 crore this year.
“The government holds 81 per cent stake in the bank, which we are planning to bring down to 75 per cent. We have taken in-principle approval from the board to raise around Rs 2,500 crore in this financial year. The fundraising will be through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) or Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) route.