Dena Bank net plunges 70% as bad loans & wage provisions soar

Mid-sized state-run lender Dena Bank today reported a massive 70 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 55.82 crore in the quarter to March, on account of higher provisions for bad loans, wage revision and unhedged foreign currency exposure.
"Our provisions for non-performing loans increased in the quarter as well as for the full year, which led to drop in net profit," its chairman and managing director Ashwani Kumar told reporter here.
For the reporting quarter, its income grew marginally or 1.43 per cent to Rs 2,908 crore from Rs 2,867 crore in the same period last year.
Bank's asset quality also worsened in the quarter with gross NPAs rising to 5.45 per cent from 3.33 per cent, while net NPAs rose to 3.82 per cent as against 2.35 per cent.

Its provisions for bad loans rose 9 per cent to Rs 366 crore in the quarter as against Rs 335 crore in the year ago period, while its total provisions grew 24 per cent to Rs 322 crore from Rs 260 crore.
For the full fiscal, provisions for bad loans jumped 52 per cent to Rs 1,115 crore from Rs 733 crore last year.

The bank made provisions of Rs 59.85 crore towards wage revision during the year, while the aggregate provisions stood at Rs 195.85 crore.
That apart, the bank also made an incremental provision of Rs 11.84 crore and an incremental capital requirement of Rs 169.94 crore towards unhedged foreign currency exposure in the year.

For the full year, the bank's net profit dropped 52 per cent to Rs 265.48 crore, while income increased from Rs 10,895.2 crore to Rs 11,484.82 crore.
Fresh slippages in the quarter stood at Rs 1,028 crore as against Rs 1,026 crore last year same quarter. The bank also saw Rs 164 crore worth of restructured accounts becoming NPAs in the quarter.