Canara Bank back in the black in Q4, posts net profit of Rs 1,010 cr

Public sector lender Canara Bank's net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21) stood at Rs 1,010 crore as against net loss of Rs 6,567 crore in the same period a year ago.

The net profit for FY21 stood at Rs 2,557 crore as against loss of Rs 5,838 in FY20. For the purpose of comparison, these figures (Q4FY20 and FY20) depict combined performance as if Syndicate Bank had merged with it in FY20. The actual merger with Canara Bank happened in April 2020 and thus, FY21 was the first complete year of the amalgamated entity.

The shares of Bengaluru-based bank closed 4.52 per cent lower at Rs 146.65 per share on BSE.

Its board is slated to meet next week to consider a proposal for raising equity capital through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and additional tier-I bonds in the current financial year (FY22), said bank managing director and chief executive L V Prabhakar at media interaction. It raised Rs 2,000 crore through QIP in December 2020.

Its net interest income rose to Rs 5,589 crore in Q4FY21 from Rs 5,087 crore in Q4FY20.

Its provisions for the reporting quarter declined sharply to Rs 4,692 crore as against Rs 8,979 crore in Q4FY20.

The gross non-performing Assets (GNPAs) of the bank stood at 8.93 per cent in March 2021, as against 9.39 per cent in March 2020. The net NPAs were at 3.82 per cent in March 2021 as against 4.34 per cent in March 2020.

The provision coverage ratio was 79.68 per cent at end of March 2021 (against a guidance of 81 per cent) as against 76.95 per cent in March 2020.

The bank has guided for slippages of Rs 14,000-15,000 crore in FY22 and recoveries would exceed slippages, Prabhakar said.

Its global deposits rose 11.5 per cent to Rs 10.10 trillion in FY21 and global advances were up 3.68 per cent to Rs 6.75 trillion.

The capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.18 per cent.