Dena Bank net profit in the fourth quarter plunged by over 50 per cent to Rs 126 crore, hurt by a jump in provisions for bad loans.
During the quarter, an interest reversal of Rs 62 crore led net interest income (difference between interest earned and expended) dip by six per cent to Rs 562 crore, while other income was up 12 per cent.
Low base rate and high cost of funds lowered net interest margins (NIM) at 2.80 per cent from 3.21 per cent in the year-ago quarter. "We will try to reach NIM at around three per cent," said Ashwani Kumar, CMD. Provisions to cover bad loans jumped 35 per cent to Rs 143 crore. Provisions for depreciation on investment almost tripled to Rs 98 crore.
As on March 31, 2013, year-on-year total advances were up 16 per cent at Rs 57,159 crore, while deposits rose 26 per cent at Rs 97,207 crore.
Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total advances rose to 2.19 per cent from 1.67 per cent in Q4FY12.
For the full-year, net profit increased by a meagre seven per cent to Rs 810 crore in FY13 from Rs 803 crore in FY12.
The bank’s shares ended up by 0.91 per cent at Rs 93.90 on the BSE on Saturday.