Interest margins, treasury profit push OBC net 80%

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) on Thursday reported an 80 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 302 crore for the second quarter, ended September, against Rs 168 crore in the year-ago period. The growth came on the back of recovery from bad loans, treasury profits and improvement in interest margins.

“The net profit of the bank has gone up substantially on annual basis as there has been strong recovery of assets, which had gone bad in the past and lower provisions for non-performing loans,” chairman and managing director S L Bansal told reporters.

OBC’s total recovery was Rs 449 crore during July-September 2012-13, compared with Rs 303 crore during the same period in the previous financial year.

The bank’s total income increased 18 per cent from Rs 4,078 crore to Rs 4,821 crore during the July-September quarter, over the same period last year. Operating profit increased 21.5 per cent in the second quarter to Rs 921 crore, while capital adequacy ratio stood at 12 per cent.

Net interest income (NII) rose 16.9 per cent to Rs 1,157 crore, while net interest margin stood (NIM) at 2.79 per cent. The bank aims at an NIM of 2.85 per cent for FY13.

Deposits stood at Rs 1,64,175 crore at the end of September, showing growth of 9.8 per cent, while advances stood at Rs 1,18,844 crore, depicting growth of 12.5 per cent. The bank is expecting credit growth of 16 per cent this year.

Asked about the bank’s exposure to Kingfisher Airlines, Bansal said OBC had given a loan of Rs 54 crore and it continued to be a standard asset, as the company was servicing the loan.