Bank of India (BoI) reported a five-fold y-o-y increase in standalone net profit at ₹541 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, helped by a significant easing in provisioning burden.
The Mumbai-headquartered public sector bank reported a net profit of ₹106 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total provisioning, including towards bad and doubtful assets, standard assets, and depreciation on investments, declined 51 per cent y-o-yto ₹1,980 crore (₹4,015 crore).
Within the total provisions, the bank stepped up provisions towards standard assets, at ₹1,066 crore (₹89 crore).
Atanu Kumar Das, MD & CEO, said: “The bank continues to be proactive and prudent in provisioning over and above the regulatory mandate...We took a conscious call to make sure that we will cushion ourselves from future shocks, if any.”
Net interest income (difference between interest earned and interest expended) declined about 9 per cent y-o-y to ₹3,740 crore (₹4,118 crore).
Total non-interest income, comprising profit from sale of investments, profit from exchange transactions, commission, exchange and brokerage, and other non-interest income, was down 17 per cent y-o-y to ₹2,068 crore (₹ 2,503 crore).
NPAs
Gross NPAs declined to 13.25 per cent of gross advances as of December-end 2020 against 13.79 per cent as of September-end 2020.
Net NPA position improved to 2.46 per cent of net advances as of December-end 2020 against 2.89 per cent as of September-end 2020.
With proforma slippages (adjusted for the Supreme Court’s interim order on asset classification standstill), Gross and Net NPA ratio would have been 14.59 per cent and 3.73 per cent, respectively.
Recovery
Das said the bank is aiming for a recovery of almost ₹2,500 crore in the fourth quarter (₹1,495 crore in the third quarter). This does not include the big NBFC account where resolution is in advanced stage.
“Our proforma NPA as of December-end was ₹5,800 crore. Of this, we have already regularised (exposure aggregating) Rs 660 crore,” the BoI chief said.
PR Rajagopal, Executive Director, said: “We have already provided over Rs 700 crore towards the proforma accounts.”
Global deposits (domestic plus foreign) were up 17 per cent y-o-y to ₹6,11,879 crore. Global advances rose 9.59 per cent to ₹4,14,987 crore.
Das said BoI sanctioned loans to the tune of ₹70,000 crore in the first 9 months of the current financial year. Offtake from these sanctions was roughly 50 per cent.
In FY22, the bank expects 10-12 per cent credit growth (conservative estimate), driven by growth in retail, agriculture and MSME advances, government-guaranteed accounts and other quality assets.