Bandhan Bank Q1 net profit declines on new slippages

In the same period of the previous financial year, there were no slippages, and the banking industry was given moratorium on repayment of loans, MD and CEO of Bandhan Bank Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said.Virtually addressing journalists, Ghosh said, the banks performance was very challenging in the first quarter of the current fiscal, due to the second wave of the pandemic.

Net profit of private sector Bandhan Bank has declined to Rs 373 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal as compared to Rs 550 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal. The Kolkata-headquartered lender Friday said the fall in net profit had been due to slippages in the first quarter which was to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore.

''In the first quarter, we had slippages and there was no write-off. In the same period of the previous financial year, there were no slippages, and the banking industry was given moratorium on repayment of loans,'' MD and CEO of Bandhan Bank Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said.

Virtually addressing journalists, Ghosh said, the bank’s performance was very challenging in the first quarter of the current fiscal, due to the second wave of the pandemic. The rural and semi-urban areas were adversely impacted during this period, he said. Despite the challenges, the bank's advances touched Rs. 83,357 crore, of which micro-finance constituted 58 percent. Deposits of the Bank stood at Rs. 77,336 crore, he said.

The operating profit of the bank in the first quarter stood at Rs. 1,871 crore, reflecting a growth of 18 percent.

Net interest margin (NIM) at the end of the first quarter touched 8.5 percent.

Ghosh said the bank had restructured some of the accounts and hoped that regular payments will start once normal business activity resumes.

He said bank employees were unable to go to customers for collecting installments since the outbreak of COVID-19. “However, we have seen an improvement in collection performance in the first quarter of the current fiscal,” Ghosh added. The Gross NPA of the bank in the first quarter stood at 8.2 percent while net NPA was 3.3 percent.

Ghosh said the bank will go for diversification of its portfolio of advances in the coming days. ''We aim to make micro-finance 30 percent (now 58 percent), housing finance 30 percent (now 24 percent), and the balance between MSME, retail, and others.

''Our focus areas of growth will be rural and semi-urban. Most of the new banking outlets will be opened in these areas'', he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)