Central Bank posts Q3 PBT at Rs 447.11 crore; stock closes 3.73% lower

The company had posted loss before tax of Rs 1,096.6 crore in third quarter ended December 2018 (Q3FY19)

State-run lender Central Bank of India on Tuesday reported a profit before tax (PBT) at Rs 447.11 crore in the fiscal third quarter, compared to a loss before tax of Rs 1,096.6 crore in the year-ago period.

The lender’s net profit stood at Rs 155.3 crore in the three months ended December 31, 2019, as against a loss of Rs 718.2 crore in the same period of the last fiscal. 

The net interest income rose to Rs 2,033 crore from Rs 1,816 crore in the year-ago period, while the net interest margin improved to 2.92 per cent from 2.74 per cent.

The non-interest income rose 129.6 per cent to Rs 1,249 crore in October-December from Rs 544 crore a year ago.

The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) saw an improvement at 19.99 per cent, compared to 20.64 per cent at the end of December 2018. The net NPAs were at 9.26 per cent, down from 10.32 per cent earlier.

The non-performing asset (NPA) divergence, as assessed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), stood at Rs 2,565 crore for the financial year ended March 2019.

The provision coverage ratio on NPAs, including cumulative technical write-offs, was 73.73 per cent, compared to 69.52 per cent at December 31, 2018, the bank said in a presentation.

The advances of the bank, which is under the central bank’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework, shrunk by 2.79 per cent at Rs 1.66 trillion. The lender, however, expects to exit the PCA framework by the end of March 2020.

The retail loan portfolio of the bank registered a growth of 10.18 per cent, while the corporate loan book shrunk by 8.25 per cent.

Deposits rose to Rs 3.08 trillion in the period from Rs 2.95 trillion earlier. The share of current and savings account (CASA) stood at 45.49 per cent at end of December 2019, up from 44.64 per cent a year ago.

The capital adequacy ratio was at 12.83 per cent with tier I of 10.64 per cent at the end of December 31, 2019. 

The bank’s stock closed 3.73 per cent down at Rs 19.35 on BSE, while the Sensex closed at 40,966.86 points, down -0.46 per cent.