CSB Bank soars 10%, hits 52-week high on impressive Q4 results

Shares of CSB Bank hit a 52-week high as they soared 10 per cent to Rs 284.95 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday after the lender reported an impressive March quarter result (Q4FY21) with a net profit of Rs 42.89 crore as against a loss of Rs 59.7 crore in Q4FY20.

The bank surpassed its previous high of Rs 279.75 touched on March 8. It had hit an all-time high of Rs 314 on December 5, 2019. CSB Bank has a strong base in Kerala along with a significant presence in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, AP, Telengana and Maharashtra.

In Q4FY21, the net interest income (NII) grew 75 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 275.70 crore as against Rs 157.54 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total non-interest income was up 30 per cent YoY at Rs 112.32 crore, backed by improved treasury profits, processing fee, Banca commission, Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLC) income etc. The improvements in the various ratios supported a higher net interest margin (NIM), which expanded 169 basis points (bps) to 5.42 per cent from 3.73 per cent.

The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of advances has come down from 3.54 per cent to 2.68 per cent or by 86 bps. Net NPA as a percentage of advances decreased from 1.91 per cent to 1.17 per cent. Provision coverage ratio improved to 84.89 per cent as on Q4FY21 from 80.02 per cent as on Q4FY20.

For the entire financial year 2020-21 (FY21), the bank recorded an all-time high net profit of Rs 218.40 crore as against Rs 12.72 crore in FY20, an increase of 1,617 per cent. In FY21, the operating profit was Rs 613.21 crore, 119 per cent higher than the FY20 operating profit of Rs 280.58 crore.

The management said during FY21, while the industry grew by approximately 12 per cent in deposits and 6 per cent in advances, we could outperform by recording a 21 per cent and 27 per cent growth in deposits and advances, respectively. In terms of the overall business, the bank has grown a fourth of the total business it grew in the past 99 years.

"While going digital will be the mantra, we also plan to add close to 200 branches to our network in FY 22 so that there is the proper mix of brick and click banking. Though we may have to wait for a month or so to fully understand the impact of the second wave of Covid-19, we are optimistic in our outlook to continue the good work in FY 22 as well," it said.

At 11:16 am, CSB Bank was trading 8 per cent higher at Rs 278.20 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.70 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped over five times with a combined 2.35 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE so far.