Andhra Bank Q4 net dips 10.4% on high MTM loss

High mark-to-market losses following the sharp fall in stock market and bond prices hit Andhra Bank's January-March net profit rise, K Ramakrishnan, chairman and managing director, said today.

Andhra Bank posted the fourth quarter net profit at Rs 124.25 crore against Rs 138.7 crore a year ago, down 10.4 per cent.

The state-run bank made a provision of Rs 47 crore on account of MTM losses in equity and government bonds trading, Ramakrishnan said.

"We have a Rs 200-crore equity investment portfolio. Market had not improved till March 31. Inflation also impacted bond market prices. Overall, we were forced to make provision of Rs 47 crore in the fourth quarter (January-March)," he said. "Sharp rise in interest costs also impacted the profitability of the bank," he added.

The bank's net interest income for the last quarter of 2007-08 was down at Rs 343 crore versus Rs 387 crore a year ago. "Credit growth was also not uniform in 2007-08. This is another reason for the dip in net interest income," Ramakrishnan said.

"The bank's capital adequacy ratio is at 11.67 per cent and we are comfortable at this level. We are not looking for any fresh capital raising plans," Ramakrishnan said.

He expects RBI to hike banks' cash reserve ratio further at its annual monetary policy announcement Tuesday to rein in inflation pressure.

On April 17, RBI had hiked CRR by 50 basis points to 8.00 per cent. Shares of Andhra Bank today ended at Rs 80.65 on the National Stock Exchange, up 1.7 per cent from Thursday.