Lakshmi Vilas Bank Q3 net loss widens to Rs 373 cr

Private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) Monday reported widening of its net loss to Rs 373.49 crore for third quarter ended December 2018, as bad loans more than doubled year-on-year.

It had posted a net loss of Rs 39.23 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Sequentially, there was a net loss of Rs 132.31 crore in the second quarter ended September 2018.

Total income also fell to Rs 762.48 crore in October-December 2018 as compared with Rs 817.51 crore, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank's gross bad loans more than doubled to 13.95 per cent of gross loans during the quarter, against 5.66 per cent by in the year-ago quarter.

In value terms, gross bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs) ballooned to Rs 3,364.28 crore as against Rs 1,427 crore a year ago.

Net NPAs rose to 7.64 per cent (Rs 1,716.22 crore) from 4.27 per cent (Rs 1,060.46 crore).

Thus, the provisioning for bad loans and contingencies were raised to Rs 431.39 crore for the quarter, against Rs 85.35 crore in the corresponding period of 2017-18.

Total business stood at Rs 54,910 crore as against Rs 55,851 crore a year ago.

The return on assets plunged to (-) 3.90 per cent in the December quarter, against (-) 0.42 per cent for the year-ago period.

"Over the quarter, the bank has reduced exposure to NBFCs, real estate and infrastructure sectors by Rs 800 crore. Exposure to the NBFC sector is today at Rs 2,136 crore, which is 8.16 per cent of the lending book. There is no NPA in this sector with us," it said in a release.

The bank's exposure to the real estate sector is Rs 3,742 crore, which is 14.3 per cent of the lending book of the bank.

"Out of this exposure, Rs 1,832 crore is to developers. Stress is of Rs 245 crore. The exposure to LAPs (loan against property) is Rs 959 crore. We have not noticed any particular stress in that book," the bank said.

Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank closed 10.25 per cent down to Rs 58.20 apiece on the BSE.