Private sector lender Development Credit Bank (DCB) today said its losses rose 12-fold to Rs 91.3 crore during the quarter-ended March 2009, as against Rs 7.6 crore during the previous corresponding period, mainly on account of higher provisioning for bad loans in its retail portfolio.
During the quarter, income fell by 30 per cent to Rs 164.79 crore. DCB, which is the only bank to report losses, said its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) increased nearly five times to Rs 305.56 crore at the end of March 2009 from Rs 63.4 crore in the previous year. Similarly, net NPAs jumped 4.7 times to Rs 127 crore from Rs 27 crore a year ago.
As a result, its total provisions more than doubled to Rs 90 crore during the fourth quarter of the last financial year, from Rs 41.8 crore at the end of March 2008.
“Most of the provisions are on account of retail loans, which we have stopped. Also, we have made higher provisions and NPAs have peaked,” DCB Chairman Nasser Munjee said. For the year ended March 2009, the bank registered a loss of Rs 88.10 crore, while it recorded a profit of Rs 38.33 crore in the previous year.
