Vijaya Bank net profit jumps 3 fold to Rs 204 cr in Q4

State-owned Vijaya Bank today reported a nearly three-fold jump in net profit to Rs 204 crore, riding high on an increased retail and housing loans for the fourth quarter ended March 31.
A 0.5 per cent efficient net interest margin was also a contributory factor for the jump, Vijaya Bank CEO and Managing Director Dr Kishore Sansi told reporters here.
The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 71.31 crore in theJanuary-March quarter of 2015-16 fiscal, Sansi added.
Total income of the bank rose to Rs 3,504.73 crore in theJanuary-March quarter as against Rs 3,228.48 crore in the year-ago period, he said.

Its net NPAs also eased to 4.35 per cent as against 4. 81 per cent at the end of March 2016, he added.
Replying to a query, Sansi said he expects significantimprovement in bad loan resolutions following the recent RBI'sdecision to reduce requirement for banks in a joint lenders' forum to agree to a restructuring plan.

Sansi said the major part of gross NPAs, which is around Rs 4,800 crore, is from large corporates.
He also said, for the next couple of quarters, lending to corporates, would be put on the backburner, and focus would be on growing the bank's retail book.

Sansi added that the bank's loan book is likely to grow at 9-10 percent for FY 18, compared to 6.76 percent in the previous year.
The net profit of the bank increased by 96.56 per cent to all-time high of Rs 750.48 crore and operating profit at Rs 2,421.15 crore, up by 56.32 per cent from Rs 1,548.87 crore.
The net interest margin up by 50 bps stood at 2.77 per cent for Q4 increased by 90 bps to 3.10 per cent, Sansi said.
As far as asset quality of the bank is concerned, the gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances declined marginally to 6.59 per cent from 6.64 per cent in the same quarter a year ago, he said.

The board of the directors of the company has recommended a dividend of Rs 1.50 per share or 15 per cent for 2016-17,Sansi said.
For the entire 2016-17 fiscal, the bank's net profit nearly doubled to Rs 750.45 crore as compared to Rs 381.80 crore in the previous fiscal, he added.
The total income also rose to Rs 14,030.72 crore during the fiscal from Rs 12,957.44 crore in 2015-l6, Sansi said.
He further said the bank is well capitalised in Tier-1 at 9.4 per cent, but plans to further shore up its capital.
The bank also will look to raise AT-1 capital amounting to Rs 500 crore over next six months which will further strengthen its capital base, he added.