Public sector lender Dena Bank today reported a 67 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 67.80 crore for the quarter ended December 31 on account of higher provisioning.
The bank's profit after tax stood at Rs 206 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
"Profitability is under stress due to higher provisioning," the bank's Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Kumar told reporters here.
The bank's provisions increased to Rs 382.43 crore in the October-December quarter as against Rs 156.59 crore last year.
The bank's net interest margin (NIM) stood at 2.66 per cent in the quarter as against 2.88 per cent.
"We expect our NIM to be in the range of 2.75-3 per cent by March 2014," Kumar said.
Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 660.89 crore, a growth of 7.48 per cent, compared to Rs 614.90 crore in the same quarter last year.
The bank's asset quality deteriorated in the quarter with gross NPA increasing to 2.96 per cent from 2.09 per cent in the year ago quarter. Net NPA ratio rose to 2 per cent from 1.31 per cent in the same period last year.
In absolute terms, gross NPA has increased from Rs 1,317 crore to Rs 2,066 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, while net NPA increased from Rs 817 crore to Rs 1,379 crore.
Provision coverage ratio for the quarter was at 63.92 per cent.
In the quarter under review, the bank's provisioning for non-performing assets was Rs 124 crore while for restructured assets it was Rs 53 crore, Kumar said.
