Allahabad Bank loss widens to Rs 2,103 cr in Sep quarter as NPAs increase

Allahabad Bank on Friday reported widening of net loss to Rs 2,103.19 crore for the September quarter 2019-20 due to higher provision for bad loans.

The state-owned lender had registered a loss of Rs 1,816.19 crore during the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

In the preceding June quarter, the bank clocked a profit of Rs 128 crore.

Total income during July-September 2019 however rose to Rs 4,725.23 crore from Rs 4,492.23 crore in the same period last fiscal, the filing said.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans increased to 19.05 per cent (Rs 31,467.53 crore) of the gross advances as on September 30, 2019 from 17.53 per cent (Rs 27,236.19 crore) by the same period of 2018.

Net NPAs came down to 5.98 per cent (Rs 8,502.09 crore) from 7.96 per cent (Rs 11,082.74 crore) in the year-ago period, it said.

The provisioning for bad loans spiked to Rs 2,721.97 crore in the second quarter, from Rs 1,991.88 crore in the year-ago period.

During the quarter under review, the bank made additional provision of Rs 1,982.41 crore over and above the provisions required to be made in terms of prudential norms issued by the RBI, to ensure compliance with the PCA norms of the net non-performing advances, it added.

The bank said it made no additional provisioning for the cases admitted under NCLT (list 1 and 2) as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for the quarter as well as first half ended September of this fiscal as it had already parked Rs 749.51 crore as at March-end 2018 towards these.

The non-performing loan provision coverage ratio of the bank is 79.30 per cent, it said.

"Pursuant to Government of India letter dated August 30, 2019 on amalgamation of PSBs, the board of directors in its meeting held on September 16, 2019 has considered and accorded its in-principle approval for amalgamation of the bank with Indian Bank and commencement of the amalgamation process, subject to all applicable approvals," Allahabad Bank said.

Further, the bank is evaluating the option of lower corporate tax under the amended tax rules.

Allahabad Bank stock closed at Rs 26.55, down 1.67 per cent on the BSE.