RBL Bank net declines 34% in Q4 on higher provisions, drop in NII

Private sector lender RBL Bank has reported a 34 per cent drop in net profit in the March quarter of FY21 due to higher provisions and a drop in net interest income (NII). Its profit after tax for the reporting quarter stood at Rs 75 crore against Rs 114 crore in the year-ago period. The operating profit of the bank, however, was up 17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 877 crore.
 
The banks’ NII was down 11 per cent YoY in Q4FY21 to Rs 906 crore but other income was up 38 per cent to Rs 688 crore. The net interest margin of the lender stood at 4.19 per cent, down to 2 basis points (bps), sequentially. NIM was impacted due to an interest reversal of approximately 50 bps as well as because of the excess liquidity that the bank has been carrying on its balance sheet.

 
The bank made provisions to the tune of Rs 766 crore in Q4FY21, up 27.45 per cent YoY and 25.6 per cent sequentially. In Q3FY21, the bank had set aside Rs 601 crore as provisions. 
 
Having recognised and adequately provided for the stress emanating from the identified pool of corporate accounts in FY20, our slippages during FY21 were primarily, almost 80 per cent in the retail segment, owing to the impact of Covid pandemic, said Vishwavir Ahuja, MD & CEO, RBL Bank.