Rising bad assets pulled down the net profit of the state-run lender Central Bank of India by 65 per cent to Rs 62 crore for the December quarter.
The bank had reported a profit of Rs 179.94 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
The net interest margin increased to 2.99 per cent in the reporting quarter from 2.60 per cent a year ago.
Asset quality continued to deteriorate with gross non- performing assets (NPAs) rising to 6.48 per cent from 5.64 per cent. Net NPAs, however, marginally improved to 3.69 per cent from 3.79 per cent last year.
This has the bank making higher provisions which rose to Rs 670 crore in the quarter which included Rs 281 crore of provisioning for restructured assets. In the year-ago period, provisions stood at Rs 633 crore.
The poor numbers were also contributed by higher operating expenses, with staff cost jumping to Rs 866 crore from Rs 665.38 crore.
"Here onwards, we see things improving. We would like to maintain our margins in 2.99-3 per cent range going forward," chairman and managing director Rajeev Rishi told reporters.
Net interest income registered a growth of 28.23 per cent to Rs 1,808 crore from Rs 1,410 crore.
Also, the bank saw better show on the slippages front which came down to Rs 1,113 crore from Rs 1,212 crore in the same period last year.
"Slippages are likely to remain subdued now on. We do not see them going back to the Rs 2,000-crore level," he said.
Write off in the quarter was Rs 287 crore while the upgrades stood at Rs 503 crore.
Provision coverage ratio stood at 52.28 per cent from 41.20 per cent previous year. Bank's total restructured assets as of December 31 stood at Rs 26,354 crore.
Total business increased 11.19 per cent to Rs 4,12,164 crore from Rs 3,70,695 crore in December 2012. Total deposits rose 10 per cent to Rs 2,33,084 crore from Rs 2,12,201 crore previous year.
Advances stood at Rs 1,79,080 crore against Rs 1,58,494 crore, recording a growth of 13 per cent.
Current accounts and saving accounts increased to Rs 76,006 crore from Rs 67,999 crore, a growth of 12 per cent. In percentage terms, it stood at 32.61 per cent as compared to 32.04 per cent last year.
