 "Q4")
Bandhan Bank on Friday reported a 93.24 per cent drop in its net profit to Rs 54.6 crore in the March quarter (Q4FY24) compared to a profit of Rs 808.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The fall was due to increased provisions and a technical loan write-off.
The provisions and contingencies during the quarter stood at Rs 1,774.3 crore against Rs 734.8 crore in the same quarter last year.
The bank said that as a prudent measure and in accordance with its policy, it had technically written off loans amounting to Rs 3,852 crore.
The bank’s managing director and chief executive officer Chandra Shekhar Ghosh explained that the write-off was on an old portfolio of 2019-20, 2020-21 and partly 2021-22.
The bank’s net interest income (NII) -- the difference between interest earned and interest expended—in the quarter stood at Rs 2,866 crore compared to Rs 2,472 crore in the same quarter last financial year.
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Gross NPA in the quarter was at 3.8 per cent compared to 4.9 per cent a year ago. Net NPA was at 1.1 per cent versus 1.2 per cent in March 2023.
The bank’s net revenue stood at Rs 3,560 crore compared to Rs 3,101 crore as of Q4FY23.
Last month, the bank had announced that Chandra Sekhar Ghosh would retire after the completion of his current tenure on July 9 after leading the bank for almost for a decade. Ghosh said that he would play a strategic role in the holding company.
Asked about the progress of the search for the next managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, he said, the process was on.
During Q4FY24, the bank’s deposit book grew by 25 per cent over the same period in the previous year. The total deposit book now stands at Rs 1.35 trillion while total advances are Rs 1.25 trillion.
For FY24, the bank’s net revenue was Rs 12,490 crore compared to Rs 11,728 crore in FY23. Profit after tax stood at Rs 2,229 crore compared to Rs 2,195 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.
On the audit of its claims under the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU), Ghosh said it was progressing and should be completed shortly.
