Vijaya Bank Q2 net profits falls 25% on year

State-run Vijaya Bank on Monday reported a net profit of Rs 140 crore in the quarter ended September, about 25 per cent lower on year.

Sequentially, the net profit fell 2.8 per cent.

In an exchange filing, the city-based bank said that total income for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March increased over 12 per cent on year to Rs 3,931 crore but was flat sequentially, from Rs 3,936 crore a quarter ago.

"Operating profit for the quarter grew 3.4 per cent on year to Rs 759 crore from Rs 734 crore a year ago, but declined 11 per cent sequentially from Rs 852 crore a quarter ago," according to the filing.

Provisioning for bad loans rose 8.4 per cent to Rs 488 crore from Rs 450 crore a year ago. The bank had set aside Rs 548 crore for bad loans a quarter ago.

Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) increased 13.7 per cent on year to Rs 7,557 crore from Rs 6,649 crore a year ago but was flat sequentially from Rs 7,579 crore a quarter ago.

Net NPA rose 7.5 per cent on year to Rs 4,810 crore from Rs 4,473 crore, but declined 1.9 per cent sequentially from Rs 4,904 crore a quarter ago.

GNPA ratio declined to 5.86 per cent in the September quarter from 7.06 per cent a year ago and 6.19 per cent a quarter ago.

Net NPA ratio also declined to 3.81 per cent from 4.86 per cent a year ago and 4.10 per cent a quarter ago.

"Our total business for the quarter grew 30 per cent on year to Rs 2,96,668 crore, with deposits up 26 per cent to Rs 1,67,628 crore and advances up 37 per cent to Rs 1, 29,040 crore," said bank's Chief Executive R.A. Sankara Narayanan in a statement here.

The bank's operating profit grew 3.4 per cent on year to Rs 759 crore, while net interest income (NII) increased 16 per cent to Rs 1,166 crore for the quarter.

"On the lending front, our retail credit increased 27 per cent and housing loans portfolio grew 31 per cent. Provision for coverage ratio improved to 62.3 per cent from 59.3 per cent" added Narayanan.

The Government on September 17 announced a merger of Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda, making the new entity the country's third-largest lender.

--IANS

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