Equitas Small Finance Bank earned the highest every net profit in a quarter at ₹190 crore in the three-month period that ended on March 31, 2023. Q4FY23 PAT climbed by 59% year-on-year. The SFB registered a strong growth of 80% in quarterly disbursements to the tune of ₹5,917 crore. Net interest income (NII) climbed by a healthy 28% YoY to ₹706.9 crore in the quarter.
In the quarter, Equitas saw strong disbursement across all product segments, with the Bank’s flagship product - SBL clocking a YoY disbursement growth of 56%. Also, newer products like Housing Finance, Used Car, and Merchant OD continue to scale up.
As of March 31, 2023, the lender's advances stood at ₹27,861 crore posting a growth of 35% compared to the same period a year ago. Sequentially, the growth was 12%.
Total deposits jumped by 34% YoY and 8% QoQ to reach ₹25,381 crore in the quarter. On an annual basis, Retail Term Deposits grew 25% YoY to Rs. 8,883 crore -- contributing 61% of total term deposits. While term deposits surged by 61% YoY to ₹14,649 crore. CASA deposits jumped by 9% YoY to ₹10,732 crore, while the ratio was at 42%.
Net interest margin remained stable at 9.10% in the quarter under review.
In terms of asset quality, gross non-performing assets (GNPA) improved by 147bps YoY to 2.60% in Q4FY23 as compared to 3.46% in Q3FY23 and 4.06% in Q4FY22. Net NPA also improved by 123bps YoY to 1.14% in Q4FY23 as compared to 1.73% in Q3FY23 and 2.37% in Q4FY22
To strengthen the provision coverage ratio, the bank has made additional provisions of ₹90 crore during the quarter. PCR improved to 56.90% from 50.84% in Q3FY23 and 42.73% in Q4FY22.
P N Vasudevan, Managing Director and CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank said: “During the Bank’s initial years, the focus was on laying the foundation to transition from an NBFC into a Bank. The Bank is in its second phase of growth and the overarching strategy is to leverage the investments made in branches, people, systems, products, and most importantly customers. Initiatives centered on these investments will drive operational efficiencies, customer retention and improve the overall profitability of the Bank. As a stable, sustainable, and scalable bank, Equitas is well positioned to capitalise on industry growth potential.”
As of March 31, 2023, the bank's net worth crossed ₹5,100 crore.
The board of directors in a meeting held on Friday recommended a maiden dividend of Re 1 per equity shares (10% of face value) for FY23.
In the fourth quarter of FY23, FII/FPI increased holdings from 4.08% in December 2022 quarter to 22.69%, Mutual Funds increased holdings from 13.37% to 37.93% and Institutional Investors increased holdings from 19.43% to 65.66%. Ace investor Ashish Dhawan purchased 40,370,000 shares or a 3.6% fresh stake in Equitas SFB.
On BSE, Equitas SFB closed at ₹72.85 apiece down by 2.91%.
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