Bank of Baroda Q3 loss at Rs 3,342 crore; biggest for any lender

Amid mounting bad debts for public sector banks, Bank of Baroda today reported a net loss of Rs 3,342.04 crore for the third quarter -- biggest-ever quarterly loss for any lender in the country.

The bank had recorded a standalone net profit of Rs 333.98 crore in the same quarter of the last fiscal.

Bank of Baroda said total income declined to Rs 11,726.95 crore in the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 11,808.34 crore in the year-ago period.

Gross NPA ratio rose to 9.68% from 3.85% in the year-ago quarter, while net NPA ratio soared to 5.67% from 2.11%.

Gross NPAs more than doubled to Rs 38,934 crore from Rs 15,452 crore in the year-ago period. This led to a surge in provisioning, which shaved off the bottom-line.

The overall provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 6,164.55 crore as against Rs 1,262.25 crore a year ago.

A tax write-back of Rs 1,118.37 crore proved to be a big help in limiting the losses.

All the lenders in the system have been reporting massive setbacks due to a asset quality review undertaken by Reserve Bank to clean-up balance-sheets in a way that they reflect the true picture.

BoB's peer IDBI Bank yesterday reported a loss of over Rs 2,184 crore yesterday, making it the largest loss by any lender ever.