 "Bandhan bank")
Indian private lender Bandhan Bank reported a 93% drop in fourth-quarter net profit on Friday as it increased provisions and wrote off bad loans.
The Kolkata-based bank's net profit stood at Rs 54.63 crore ($6.56 million) in the three months ended March 31, down from Rs 808 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
Bandhan Bank's provisions and contingencies jumped to Rs 1,774 crore from Rs 735 crore a year earlier.
The bank wrote off bad loans worth Rs 3,850 crore in the January-March period, compared with none in the past four quarters.
These were loans given to small borrowers during the pandemic and were covered by a government guarantee.
However, the loans were being examined by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company, an agency set up by the government, the bank said, which could delay a payout of the government guarantee.
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The bank termed the write-offs as a "prudent measure".
Its gross non-performing asset ratio - a key gauge of asset quality - improved to 3.84% as of March-end from 7.02% at the end of the prior three months as a result of the write-offs.
Bandhan Bank is set to see a management transition after Managing Director and Chief Executive Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said he would retire on July 9, after spending nearly a decade at the helm.
The lender's net interest income rose 16% on-year to Rs 2,866 crore, while net interest margin stood at 7.6%.
Its loans grew 14.3%, while deposits rose 25%.
Shares of the bank ended 0.9% higher ahead of the results on Friday.
