IOB reports Rs 2,262-cr divergence in provisioning for bad loans in FY19

The bank had earlier reported NPA provisions of Rs 18,647.23 crore for 2018-19, while the RBI assessment pegged the provisioning at Rs 20,909.23 crore

Indian Overseas Bank has reported a divergence of Rs 2,262 crore in provisioning for bad loans in the year ended March 2019. The bank had earlier reported non-performing asset (NPA) provisions of Rs 18,647.23 crore for 2018-19, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) assessed a provisioning for Rs 20,909.23 crore.

Taking the provisioning divergence into account, the bank’s notional loss after tax goes up to Rs 5,999.88 crore, against the Rs 3,737.88 crore reported earlier.

The divergence includes provisions attributed to valuation of investments, at Rs 281 crore. The gross NPA reported by the bank was Rs 33,398.12 crore for 2018-19, while the RBI assessment pegged it at Rs 33,756.12 crore — a divergence of Rs 358 crore. The net NPA reported by the bank earlier was Rs 14,368.3 crore, but RBI assessed it at Rs 16,295.3 crore — a divergence of Rs 1,927 crore.

The divergence disclosure comes against the backdrop of a tightening in asset-quality-disclosure norms for banks by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Sebi had recently directed all listed lenders to make disclosures pertaining to divergences and provisioning within a day of receiving the RBI’s final risk assessment report.