State-run lender Bank of Baroda Wednesday reported a standalone net loss of Rs 991 crore for the quarter ended March on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.
The lender had reported a net loss of Rs 3,102 crore in the same period last year.
Provision for bad loans increased by 21.31 per cent to Rs 5,550 crore in the quarter as against Rs 7,053 crore in the year-ago period.
"In the quarter, we saw an unusually high build-up in provisions. We have about Rs 900 crore to Rs 1,000 crore provisioning being taken out on two accounts -- Bhushan Steel and Alok Industries -- where we have fully provided and they have been resolved at NCLT," the bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) P S Jayakumar told reporters.
He expects recovery from both the accounts in June or July. The bank also substantially increased provisions for certain telecom exposure in the period, he said.
Domestic net interest margin (NIM) improved to 3.12 per cent from 2.90 per cent in the same quarter last year.
Gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio improved to 9.61 per cent as against 12.26 per cent, while net NPA stood at 3.33 per cent compared to 5.49 per cent. Fresh slippages in the quarter was Rs 3,192 crore.
Recovery and upgradation stood at Rs 1,522 crore and Rs 355 crore, respectively.
The lender's exposure to accounts under RBI's first list of defaulters was Rs 3,908 crore and Rs 3,831 crore under the second list, as of March end. Provision coverage under the first and second lists was 95.63 per cent and 84.11 per cent, respectively.
Capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.42 per cent and CET-1 (Common Equity Tier-I) at 10.38 per cent. Domestic deposits grew by 11.9 per cent to Rs 5,17,966 crore and advances rose by 14.17 per cent to Rs 3,70,185 crore.
Jayakumar said amalgamation of the bank with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, which came into effect from April 1, 2019, is work in process.
"The integration between the three banks is going smoothly. We have made a lot of progress. We have made the organisation by and large common for all three banks," he said, adding that efforts are being made to fasten the speed of integration.
Post the first three-way merger in the banking sector, Bank of Baroda became the third-largest lender in the country after SBI and HDFC Bank.
Jayakumar said he did not see any increase in net NPA numbers due to the merger of the three banks.
On branch rationalisation, Jayakumar said there would not be any reduction in number of branches but some will be relocated.
The merged entity has over 9,500 branches, 13,400 ATMs and over 85,000 employees.
The bank's scrip ended 0.68 per cent up at Rs 126.20 apiece on BSE Wednesday.
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