Private sector lender RBL Bank reported a near 41 per cent increase in net profit for the first quarter of the fiscal, led by strong growth in its interest income and stable asset quality.

The bank’s net profit rose 40.5 per cent to ₹267.05 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, against ₹190.04 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total income shot up by 48 per cent to ₹2,503.38 crore in the April to June 2019 quarter, compared to ₹1,690.19 crore in the same period a year ago.

Net interest income also grew by a similar 48 per cent to ₹817.3 crore (₹552.7 crore). Net interest margin improved further to 4.31 per cent in the first quarter from 4.04 per cent a year ago, while the cost to income ratio was at 52.35 per cent. “Given the difficult environment, we expect to face some challenges on some of our exposures in the near term. At the same time, given the strong momentum in our businesses, we expect to maintain healthy profitable growth over the coming quarters,” said Vishwavir Ahuja, Managing Director and CEO, RBL Bank.

The bank’s provisions rose by a sharp 51.9 per cent to ₹213.18 crore (₹140.35 crore).

In absolute terms, bad loans also increased with gross non-performing assets at ₹789.21 crore in the quarter under review against ₹595.94 crore a year ago.

However, gross NPAs decreased to 1.38 per cent of gross assets as on June 30, 2019, against 1.4 per cent as on June 30, 2018. Net NPAs, too, decreased to 0.65 per cent of net assets as on June 30, 2019, against 0.75 per cent as on June 30, 2018.

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