Tamilnad Mercantile Bank net grows 141% in April-September to Rs 62.74 cr

The bank's gross non-performing assets during the first six months of the year stood at Rs 1346.65 crore, or 4.91 per cent of its gross advances

Private sector lender Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) on Tuesday reported a net profit of Rs 62.74 crore for the first six months of the financial year (April-September), 141 per cent higher than the Rs 151.07-crore profit it posted for the same period a year earlier.

The bank’s total business during the period under review stood at Rs 60,852.48 crore, 11.70 per cent higher on a year-on-year basis, TMB said. Its deposits and advances were Rs 34,068.80 crore and Rs 26,783.68 crore, respectively.

TMB’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) during the period grew to Rs 1346.65 crore, 4.91 per cent of its gross advances, against Rs 1,131.85 crore (or 4.64 per cent of gross advances) in the year-ago period. Net NPAs, at Rs 624.29 crore, were higher than the Rs 571.20 crore during the same period last year. But as a proportion of advances, net NPAs remained unchanged at 2.4 per cent. The bank’s provision coverage ratio rose to 75.77 per cent from 73.17 per cent in the year-ago period.

The bank was aiming at a total business of Rs 72,500 crore and a net profit of Rs 360 crore for full financial year 2019-20, it said in a press release. It was also planning to set up more e-lobbies, introduce national common mobility card, hi-tech call centre operations and artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot and robotic operations in currency chest, it said. The bank’s half-yearly results were announced on Tuesday in the presence of Chairman S Annamalai, and Managing Director and Chief Executive K V Rama Moorthy, besides other directors on its board.