Indian Bank reports Q3 net of Rs 514 cr versus loss in year-ago quarter

Board clears Rs 4,000 cr equity raising plans to reduce GOI stake below 75 per cent

Indian Bank, Chennai-based public sector lender, posted a net profit of Rs 514 crore in third quarter ended December 2020 (Q3FY21), backed by improvement in interest margins. It had posted loss of Rs 1,739 crore in quarter ended December 2019.

On sequential basis, net profit rose by 25 per cent over the quarter ended September 2020.

Its stock closed 1.56 per cent higher at Rs 90.90 per share on BSE.

Allahabad Bank amalgamated with Indian Bank from April 01, 2020 and the combined financials for Q3Fy21 and March 2020 have been arrived at by aggregation of audited numbers of the two banks.

The Net Interest Income (NII) rose by 31 per cent for Q3FY21 to Rs 4,313 crore from Rs 3,293 crore for Q3FY20. The Net Interest Margin (NIM) (Domestic) was up 42 basis points (bps) and is at 3.13 per cent for Q3FY21 as against 2.71 per cent for Q3FY20.

However, the non-Interest Income for Q3FY21 declined to Rs 1,397 crore from Rs 1,673 Crore for Q3FY20 due to lower profit on sale of investment and slowdown in recovery in bad debts, bank said in  a statement.

The provisions & Contingencies for Q3FY21 stood at Rs 2,585 crore as against Rs 4,555 crore in Q3FY20. The specific loan loss provisions for Q3FY21 were Rs 738 crore, compared to Rs 4,705 crore in Q3FY20.

The provision Coverage ratio stood at 86.51 per cent as on December 31, 2020.

The Supreme Court has asked Banks that the accounts which were not classified as NPA till August 31, 2020 shall not be so classified till further orders of Supreme Court. Assuming absence of court directive, on proforma basis Gross Non-performing Assets (NPAs) were at 10.38 per cent and pro-forma net NPAs were 3.49 per cent in December 2020.

Total deposits grew by eight per cent (year-on-year basis) at Rs 5,21,248 Crore in Q3FY21. The advances expanded by seven per cent at Rs 3,89,646 crore as of Q3FY21.

The Bank’s total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CRAR) stood at 14.06 per cent as against regulatory requirement of 10.87 per cent. The tier-I CRAR was at 11.18 per cent.

Its managing director and chief executive Padmaja Chunduru said bank is well capitalized to support growth and does not need to raise fresh capital for now.

Bank board has cleared a proposal for raising Rs 4,000 crore through equity basically to reduce government of India’s holding below 75 per cent, she said.