BackCanara Bank, Central Bank net profits jump
Canara Bank posts net profit of `656 crore; Central Bank profit for December quarter at `137.65 crore
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Mumbai: Canara Bank Ltd on Wednesday reported a net profit of ₹ 656 crore for the quarter ended 31 December, up 60% from ₹ 409.35 crore reported a year ago, on improved non-interest income.
Net interest income (NII), or interest earned on loans minus interest paid on deposits, stood at ₹ 2,380.5 crore in the third quarter, up 7% from ₹ 2,227 crore a year ago. The state-owned lender’s non-interest income, including fees and commissions, rose nearly 38% to ₹ 1,176 crore from ₹ 851.42 crore a year ago.
Last year, the bank had to incur a nominal loss of ₹ 157 crore in its treasury portfolio. This year, due to a fall in bond yields and an improved stock market, the bank’s trading profit rose to ₹ 301 crore, which boosted the bank’s profit.
Overall provisions during the third quarter fell to ₹ 841.33 crore from ₹ 1,051.51 crore reported in the same quarter last year. But provisions for bad debt rose to ₹ 952 crore, from ₹ 543 crore in the year-ago quarter.
The bank’s asset quality worsened on a quarter-on-quarter basis as the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio stood at 3.35% as on 31 December, higher than the 2.92% reported in the July-September quarter. The net NPA ratio stood at 2.42% in the October-December period, up from 2.31% in the quarter ended 30 September.
However, the bank managed to recover ₹ 1,214 crore in the quarter, compared with ₹ 1,212 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Separately, Mumbai-based Central Bank of India reported a 123.71% jump in its third quarter profit, aided by low tax expenses.
Profit for the quarter was at ₹ 137.65 crore against ₹ 61.53 crore in the year-ago quarter. Tax expenses fell to ₹ 25 crore from ₹ 149.57 crore in the year-ago period. Operating profit of the bank remained flat at ₹ 861 crore, while the gross NPA ratio fell to 6.2% from 6.48% a year ago.
Shares of Canara Bank rose 30.25% to ₹ 453.05 and Central Bank rose 0.05% to ₹ 106.35 on the BSE. The equity benchmark, the Sensex, fell 0.4% to 28,883.11 points.
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