Bandhan Bank net profit jumps 68 pc to Rs 651 cr in March quarter

Private sector Bandhan Bank Thursday posted a jump of 68 per cent in its net profit to Rs 650.87 crore in the fourth quarter ended March, on account of healthy core income.

The lender had registered a net profit of Rs 387.86 crore in the January-March quarter of the previous financial year.

Its total income rose to Rs 2,220.51 crore, compared with Rs 1,553.97 crore in year ago same period, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

Net interest income (Nll) for the quarter grew 45.60 per cent to Rs 1,258 crore as against Rs 864 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Non-interest income grew by 91.13 per cent to Rs 388 crore for the quarter ended March 2019, against Rs 203 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The bank witnessed spike in its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to 2.04 per cent of the gross loans as on March 31, 2019, from 1.25 per cent by end-March 2018.

However, the net NPAs or bad loans came remained flat at 0.58 per cent.

Bandhan Bank said the board of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per share, subject to shareholders approval.

"The year 2018-19 has been a challenging year for the banking industry. We closed the financial year on a positive note with visibility of growth and improvement in asset quality and liability profile," said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, managing director and chief executive officer, Bandhan Bank.

Shares of the bank were trading 5.43 per cent higher at Rs 630.45 apiece on the BSE.