Andhra Bank Q2 net loss widens to Rs 434 crore

State-owned Andhra Bank Saturday reported widening of its net loss to Rs 434.10 crore in second quarter ended September.

It had posted a net loss of Rs 385.11 crore during the July-September period of the previous fiscal.

On a sequential basis, however, its net loss narrowed from Rs 539.83 crore loss in the first quarter ended June of the current fiscal.

In the fiscal ended March 2018, the bank had posted a net loss of Rs 3,412.53 crore due to mounting bad loans.

Total income during the second quarter of 2018-19 rose to Rs 5,249.32 crore as against Rs 5,005.34 crore in the same quarter of 2017-18, Andhra Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Bank's asset quality witnessed a deterioration year-on-year as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) soared to 16.36 per cent of gross advances by end of September quarter 2018 as against 13.27 per cent by the same period of 2017.

However, it improved a little when compared with 16.69 per cent by end of June quarter.

Net NPAs, however, showed a slight correction at 7.49 per cent of net loans as at end of September from 7.55 per cent a year ago. In the first quarter ended June, net NPAs stood at 7.96 per cent.

In absolute value, gross bad loans or NPAs stood at Rs 27,623.01 crore by September 2018 as against Rs 19,838.58 crore by September 2017. Net NPAs were Rs 11,427.62 crore as compared to Rs 10,573.60 crore.

However, its provisioning for bad loans came down to Rs 1,155.15 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 1,585.88 crore a year ago. Overall provisioning including for contingencies stood at Rs 1,561.73 crore against Rs 1,668.06 crore.

The provision coverage ratio stood at 65.47 per cent as on September 30, 2018. Andhra Bank said it received Rs 2,019 crore as government capital infusion on July 23 in lieu of preferential allotment of shares.