Higher net interest income boosted ING Vysya Bank's net profit by 39.5 per cent to Rs 127.4 crore during the fourth quarter of the last fiscal (2011-12).

The net interest income grew 19 per cent while operating profit rose 54 per cent during the quarter. “It's an all-round performance, and our core income has grown in line with the balance-sheet. We could hold our cost growth well, which is the primary driver of improvement in profitability,” said Mr Jayant Mehrotra, Chief Financial Officer, ING Vysya Bank.

The bank made higher provisioning this quarter at Rs 56.6 crore to take its provision-coverage ratio to 90.7 per cent. “We have set this aside for a rainy day and have made a very conservative approach,” he said.

Mr Mehrotra also pointed out that the effective rate of tax during the quarter was lower due to the bank claiming the deduction allowed on lending to infrastructure and other sectors under Section 36(1)(viii) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.

This deduction has been claimed on a cumulative basis from the financial year ended March 2008, he said, adding that the bank used a large part of the tax benefit to enhance the provision coverage ratio.

Gross NPA ratio improved to 1.92 per cent (2.3 per cent) and net NPA ratio was at 0.18 per cent (0.39 per cent).

Full year show

For the year ended March 31, 2012, the bank's net profit grew 43.2 per cent to Rs 456.3 crore (Rs 318.7 crore), driven by a 20 per cent increase in net interest income to Rs 1,208.3 crore (Rs 1,006.5 crore).

>anju@thehindu.co.in

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