Bank of Maharashtra Q4 profit jumps twofold to Rs 113 cr

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra’s net profit has witnessed a twofold jump to Rs 112.72 crore for the quarter ended March 31 as compared to Rs 56.95 crore for the corresponding quarter in the last financial year. The profits were up due to higher income from treasury, corporate and wholesale banking.

Net non-performing assets (NPAs) also doubled to 4.19 per cent from 2.03 per cent, while the bank’s provisioning rose to Rs 431.91 crore against Rs 257.35 crore in the year-ago period.

Annual net profit was up 17 per cent at Rs 450 crore as compared to Rs 385.97 crore for the corresponding period a year earlier. Total income for the quarter grew 6.39 per cent to Rs 13,671.42 crore as compared to Rs 12,850.85 crore a year earlier.  

S Muhnot, chairman and managing director, Bank of Maharashtra, said, “The international economic environment is still not conducive. The entire banking sector is facing an NPA crisis. Sectors like steel, infrastructure and real estate are not picking up. Due to unseasonal rains, we might face stress from agriculture sector as well.

He further added that some of the assets were liquidated due to which the bank has received Rs 1,249.51 crore. Similarly a sum of Rs 20 crore has been provided in the books last year towards some investments, classified as fraud, having a book value of Rs 32 crore.

Total income rose to Rs 3,598.89 crore during the fourth quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal from Rs 3,372.48 crore in the year-ago period. The bank made a provision of Rs 312.20 crore toward wage revision as on March 31, 2015.

The bank's board has recommended a dividend of Rs 0.80 per share for the 2014-15 fiscal.The scrip ended 1.74 per cent up at Rs 37.90 on BSE.