Heavy provisions for stressed assets have resulted in Vijaya Bank posting a 43.32 per cent drop in profit at ₹144.34 crore for the first quarter of 2018-19, compared to ₹254.69 crore in the same period last year.
The bank’s total income is marginally higher by 12.12 per cent at ₹3,935.77 crore, compared to ₹3,510.11 crore recorded in the same quarter last year. EPS stood at ₹1.11 against ₹2.55 recorded last year.
RA Shankara Narayanan, MD & CEO of Vijaya Bank, said: “The bank’s operating profit is up 13.24 per cent at ₹852 crore. We had to make heavy provisioning of ₹550 crore, leading to a decline in net profit. On the plus side, we did well in retail credit, which is up 25.44 per cent and our housing loans portfolio grew by 30.33 per cent.”
Asset quality
The asset quality of the bank during the quarter is as follows: Gross NPA for Q1 is ₹7,579 (last year ₹6,812 crore). The percentage of gross NPA is 6.19 per cent (7.30 per cent); net NPA is ₹4,904 crore ( ₹4,784 crore). The percentage of net NPA is 4.10 per cent (5.25 per cent). Provision coverage ratio has improved to 61.18 per cent from 56.01 per cent last year.
Net interest income (NII) for the quarter increased by 27.86 per cent to ₹1,207 crore. Net interest margin (NIM) was at 3.12 per cent, compared to 2.92 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Cost of deposits has come down to 5.68 per cent this year, from 5.90 per cent last year. Yield on advances stood at 9.08 per cent against 9.32 per cent clocked last year. Cost of funds this quarter is 5.09 per cent, compared to 5.08 per cent last year.
CASA deposits of the bank stood at ₹39,189 crore higher by 7.90 per cent, compared to last year’s ₹36,318 crore. CASA, as a percentage of total deposits, is 24.91 per cent (27.52 per cent).