Dena Bank profit falls 21% to Rs 189 cr

The bank's loanbook grew 9% to Rs 64,975 crore

Mumbai-based public sector lender Dena Bank recorded a net profit of Rs 189 crore for the quarter ended June, a 21 per cent decline compared to the year-ago period, owing to high provisions for non performing assets (NPAs) and restructuring. During the period, it made provisions of Rs 109 crore, against Rs 95 crore in the corresponding period last year, while provisioning for standard assets rose from Rs 42 crore to Rs 140 crore.

The bank's total income rose 21 per cent year-on-year. Gross NPAs rose to 2.7 per cent from 2.19 per cent in the previous quarter, while net NPAs rose from 1.74 per cent to 1.39 per cent. Net interest income declined 1.23 per cent to Rs 562 crore. However, treasury profits rose to Rs 265 crore from Rs 111 crore a year earlier.

Under Basel-III norms, the bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.55 per cent, with tier-I capital of 6.98 per cent. The bank has sought capital infusion of Rs 2,180 crore from the government. It hopes to record the infusion by the end of the quarter ending September.

The bank's loan book increased nine per cent to Rs 64,975 crore, while deposits rose 18 per cent Rs 94,359 crore. "Since we were facing pressure on capital, we decided to grow advances at a lower rate," said Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Kumar.

Sequentially, net interest margin improved by nine basis points to 2.55 per cent. The bank recorded slippages of Rs 400 crore during the quarter; it restructured assets of Rs 900 crore. "We have a restructuring pipeline of Rs 800 crore," Kumar said. The bank has exposure of Rs 75 crore to Electrosteel Steels, recently admitted to the corporate debt restructuring cell. It had also restructured the account of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, under the Centre's restructuring scheme for distribution companies.

During the quarter, the bank's provision coverage ratio was 66.14 per cent.