Karnataka Bank Q2 net up 20% at Rs 112 cr on lower provisions

Private sector Karnataka Bank Friday posted a 20 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 111.86 crore in the second quarter ended September 2018 on lower provisioning for bad loans and healthy core income.

Bank's net profit in the corresponding July-September quarter of 2017-18 was at Rs 93.38 crore.

Total income of the bank increased to Rs 1,653.81 crore in the second quarter of 2018-19, from Rs 1,565.75 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

Bank's earnings from interest moved up to Rs 1,452.61 crore during the September quarter as against Rs 1,317.93 crore in the year-ago period.

The asset quality has moderated and is showing signs of turnaround, the bank said in a statement.

Further, stress in the pipeline, especially in terms of SMA2 (special mention accounts-2), MSME dispensation accounts, restructured advances has considerably eased, the bank said.

On asset quality, the net non-performing assets (NPAs) came down to 3 per cent of the net advances by the end of September 30, 2018, as against 3.04 per cent in the same period a year earlier.

In value terms, net NPAs stood at Rs 1,497.68 crore as on September 30, 2018, as against Rs 1,246.81 crore as at end-September 2017.

Gross NPA ratio rose to 4.66 per cent (Rs 2,371.62 crore) against 4.13 per cent (Rs 1,715.70 crore).

Bank's provisioning for bad loans and contingencies for the quarter came down to Rs 193.22 crore as against Rs 225.98 crore.

"The results are on the expected line as we have been able to declare a decent profit with more focus on asset quality and healthy growth. Asset quality has moderated and stress in the pipeline is also receding and that is good news going forward. "Expenditure is fully under control and a growth of 7.29 per cent in operating profit for the first half of current year is an indication of robustness of the business portfolio," said Mahabaleshwara M S, Managing Director and CEO, Karnataka Bank.

Provision coverage ratio as of September 30, 2018, stood at 57.49 per cent (46.94 per cent at September 2017).

Total business of the bank stood at Rs 1,13,854 crore as on September 30, 2018, registering a year-on-year growth of 16.63 per cent. Deposits grew by 12.95 per cent to Rs 63,885 crore and the advances were up by 21.69 per cent to Rs 49,970 crore.

The bank said it has achieved a credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 78.22 per cent which is an all-time high for Karnataka Bank.

The bank has also been able to curtail its operational expenses considerably in comparison with the previous quarters, it said in the statement.

Stock of the bank closed