Equitas SFB Q4 net down 33 pc at Rs 45 cr

Equitas Small Finance Bank on Thursday reported a 33 per cent dip in net profit at Rs 45 crore for the quarter ended March due to higher provisioning related to COVID-19.

It had reported a net profit of Rs 67 crore in the same quarter last year, the bank said.

"Our profit in the quarter was Rs 45 crore because we made COVID-19 related provisioning of around Rs 100 crore," the bank's managing director and CEO P N Vasudevan said.

For fiscal year 2019-20, the bank's profit after tax increased 16 per cent to Rs 244 crore as against Rs 210.57 crore in 2018-19.

Vasudevan said the bank extended to all its customers the RBI's three-month loan repayment moratorium.

He said 100 per cent of microfinance borrowers, 85 per cent of customers from small business loan segment and 75 per cent of MSE (micro and small enterprise) borrowers have opted for the moratorium.

"Close to 90 per cent of our borrowers are from the informal economy. They own businesses that are their livelihood. As soon as lockdown is lifted, they will try to resume their operations and we expect them to be back on track soon," he said.

Net interest margins (NIM) stood at 9.11 per cent during 2019-20.

Gross NPAs stood at 2.72 per cent as compared with 2.53 per cent in 2018-19, while net NPAs were at 1.66 per cent as against 1.44 per cent in FY19.

Advances as of March 31, 2020 grew 31.29 per cent to Rs 15,366.9 crore and disbursements for the year grew 15.54 per cent to Rs 9,911.07 crore.