Syndicate Bank narrows Q1 net loss to Rs 980 crore as bad assets fall

State-run Syndicate Bank on Wednesday reported narrowing down of its net loss to Rs 980.46 crore in the quarter ended June 2019 due to a fall in provisioning for bad assets.

The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 1,281.77 crore in the corresponding April-June period of the previous fiscal.

Total income during the June quarter of 2019-20 rose to Rs 6,080.69 crore from Rs 56,37.51 crore in the year-ago period, Syndicate Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank's asset quality witnessed a slight improvement with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) falling to 11.76 per cent of the gross advances by the end of June 2019 quarter, from 12.59 per cent as on June 2018.

 

Net NPAs or bad loan ratio fell to 5.06 per cent, as against 6.64 per cent a year ago period.

The overall provisioning for bad loans and contingencies for the quarter fell to Rs 1,969.09 crore from Rs 2,326.82 crore a year ago.

The bank's provision coverage ratio as on June 30, 2019, stood at 69.02 per cent.

The lender said that it has restructured 5,065 MSME accounts and treated them as standard assets amounting to Rs 172.81 crore up to June 2019.

"The operating profit of the bank increased by 45 per cent to Rs 558 crore but due to aggressive provisioning the bank has posted loss of Rs 980 crore during the quarter. As a result, the gross NPA ratio has come down below 12 per cent and net NPA ratio below 6 per cent.

"The bank has made a provision of Rs 2,085 crore as against Rs 1,700 crore in the same quarter a year ago," said Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, CEO, Syndicate Bank.

Shares of the bank closed 4.20 per cent down at Rs 35.35 on BSE.