Bank of Baroda (BoB) has reported a net loss of Rs 154.55 crore in the last quarter of 2001 (January-March), against a net profit of Rs 130.77 crore earned in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Net profit for the full year fell by 40.10 per cent to Rs 301.13 crore as compared with Rs 502.77 crore recorded last year.
The fall in the net profit is primarily due to a provision of Rs 482 crore towards non-performing assets (NPAs), coupled with expenses of Rs 175 crore on account of the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
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Even the operating profit of the bank slipped marginally from Rs 1052 crore in fiscal 2000 to Rs 1,037 crore last year.
BoB chairman and managing director, P S Shenoy said 6,700 employees had taken VRS in the bank and the total outgo will be Rs 845 crore, which will be amortised over a five-year period.
BoB has maintained the dividend at 40 per cent for 2000-01. "Though the performance of the bank is subdued, it must be viewed against the backdrop the overall economic growth," said Shenoy.
He also pointed out that, excluding the VRS outgo, the operating profit would have been up by 15.19 per cent. The bank will target a growth of 20 per cent in net profit, deposits as well as advances in the current fiscal, he added.
Last year, deposits of the bank rose by 5.28 per cent to Rs 53,985 crore (Rs 51,276 crore) while advances were up by 12.41 per cent to Rs 27,421 crore (Rs 24,393 crore). Retail lending by the bank has risen by 103 per cent to Rs 1145.45 crore (Rs 563.24 crore).
In absolute term, net NPAs of the bank went up from Rs 1686 crore to Rs 1851 crore though net NPAs as a percentage of net advances (including credit substitutes like investments in non-SLR investments) fell marginally to 6.77 per cent from 6.95 per cent. During the year the bank has made cash recoveries of over Rs 400 crore.
BoB, which has obtained a license to open a branch in Malaysia, is looking to open branches in the US East Coast, specifically in California and Texas, Shenoy said. He added that the average cost of opening a branch comes to around Rs 15 to 20 crore.
The bank presently has six subsidiaries, one joint venture and 38 branches spread across 16 countries.