Oriental Bank of Commerce net loss widens to Rs 16.5 bn in Q4; NPAs up 10%

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Public sector lender Oriental Bank of Commerce's (OBC's) net loss widened to Rs 16.50 billion for the quarter ended March 2018. The bank had made a net loss of Rs 12.18 billion during the corresponding quarter of previous financial year (2016-17).

Total income of the bank during the January-March quarter of 2017-18 came down to Rs 46.89 billion, against Rs 50.94 billion, the bank said in a BSE filing.

Asset quality of the bank worsened with net non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 10.48 per cent of the net advances as of March 31, 2018, against 8.96 per cent reported a year ago.

Gross NPAs or bad loans as a percentage of gross advances at the end of March 2018 stood at 17.63 per cent, up from 13.73 per cent a year ago. Bank's provisioning for bad loans stood at Rs 24.19 billion in the quarter under review, against Rs 30.51 billion a year ago.

Without naming anyone, Oriental Bank of Commerce said, in respect of two gems and jewellery borrower group, where fraud was declared by some banks, the bank has fully provided for the entire funded exposure.

Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems are wanted in connection with the alleged over Rs 130 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank. Other banks too have declared direct/indirect exposure to Nirav Modi and Gitanjali Gems. Their role in the alleged fraud is being investigated by multiple agencies.

For the full financial year, the bank reported a net loss of Rs 58.72 billion. It had registered a net loss of Rs 10.94 billion in the preceding 2016-17 financial year.