BoB Q3 net profit inches up 4.39 pc, lowers FY26 credit costs as asset quality holding up

State-run Bank of Baroda on Friday reported a 4.39 per cent increase in consolidated net profit for the December quarter at Rs 5,443 crore, helped by lower provisions as net interest margin compression held back core income growth.

State-run Bank of Baroda on Friday reported a 4.39 per cent increase in consolidated net profit for the December quarter at Rs 5,443 crore, helped by lower provisions as net interest margin compression held back core income growth. On a standalone basis, its net profit grew to Rs 5,055 crore as against Rs 4,837 crore in the year-ago period. The core net interest income grew by just 0.1 per cent to Rs 11,800 crore despite a nearly 15 per cent growth in advances, as a 0.25 per cent compression in the net interest margin at 2.79 per cent held back the number. The bank's managing director and chief executive, Debadatta Chand, told reporters that the bank will likely achieve the upper-end of the 11-13 per cent loan growth guidance for FY26 and may also exceed it, and is aiming to widen the Net Interest Margin (NIM) to 2.90 per cent by the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. The non-interest income grew 6 per cent to Rs 3,600 crore during the reporting quarter. The retail segment led the overall loan growth with a 17.4 per cent jump, including 12.8 per cent in education loans, 12 per cent in personal loans, 16 per cent in home loans and 17.4 per cent in auto loans. Chand said the corporate segment advances grew 8.1 per cent in the reporting quarter, and the bank is likely to exit FY26 with a 10 per cent increase in the segment's advances. It has a pipeline of Rs 75,000 crore of loans, which includes Rs 45,000 crore of sanctioned advances and over Rs 30,000 crore of loans in various stages of sanction, he added. The total provisions declined by 26.2 per cent to Rs 799 crore during the quarter, which included a 36 per cent decline in provisions for bad loans at Rs 559 crore. The fresh slippages came at Rs 2,676 crore, which was marginally higher than the Rs 2,669 crore in the quarter-ago period. The deposit growth came at 10.3 per cent during the quarter, and Chand added that the bank will be mindful of the accretion in liabilities before deciding its loan growth. On the capital adequacy front, the bank's overall buffer stood at 15.29 per cent, including 12.45 per cent of core equity. The BoB scrip closed 1.04 per cent down at Rs 299.35 a piece on the BSE on Friday.

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