Karnataka Bank Q3 net profit declines 29% to Rs 69 cr

Bank's net profit in corresponding Oct-Dec quarter of 2015-16 stood at Rs 97 crore

Karnataka Bank on Monday reported a fall of 29.3 per cent in net profit at Rs 68.52 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016 as higher allocation to cover bad loans eroded benefits.

Bank's net profit in corresponding October-December quarter of 2015-16 stood at Rs 96.91 crore.

"Total income has increased to Rs 1,457.52 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 from Rs 1,369.83 crore in the same period year ago," the bank said in a regulatory filing.

There was an increase of seven per cent core interest income at Rs 1,323.93 crore from Rs 1,237.11 crore a year earlier.

The private sector bank's asset quality deteriorated further with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 4.3 per cent of gross advances as on December 31, 2016 against 3.56 per cent a year ago.

Net NPAs were 2.99 per cent of net loans disbursed at the end of December 2016 against 2.41 per cent previous financial year.

In absolute terms, gross NPAs increased to Rs 1,560.23 crore from Rs 1,186.55 crore, while net NPAs were of the order of Rs 1,065.66 crore as against Rs 790.63 crore a year ago.

For provisioning to cover bad loans and contingencies, the bank raised Rs 100.60 crore in December-quarter compared to Rs 63.11 crore for the same period a year earlier, showed the Karnataka Bank's balance sheet.

Karnataka Bank shares closed 0.25 per cent down at Rs 119.80 on BSE.