RBL Bank net jumps 28% to Rs 165.3 cr on fee income

Medium-scale private sector lender RBL Bank today reported a 28 per cent growth in net income for the three months period to December at Rs 165.33 crore, despite an increase in bad loans and provisions which was offset by higher margins.
Higher advances which grew 38 per cent pushed up its net interest margins by 51 bps to 3.89 per cent during the reporting quarter which helped it offset the impact of higher provisions and bad loans.
The core net interest income rose 45 per cent to Rs 467.29 crore during the quarter under review, which boosted its overall other income by 42 per cent to Rs 258.22, while the rising bond yields crimped trading income growth at 11 per cent, he said.

The city-based bank said its bottomline would have been stronger than Rs 165.33 crore had it not been for a charge on investment in Utkarsh Micro Finance. Excluding this net profit would have been Rs 169.18 crore, a growth of 31 per cent, Vishwavir Ahuja, managing director and chief executive at RBL Bank told PTI over a concall.
Gross NPAs rose to 1.56 per cent from 1.06 per cent at Rs 580 crore due to one chunky account which became an NPA, he said, adding however this account will be regularized in the March quarter. Accordingly, its net NPAs too rose to 0.97 per cent from 0.52 per cent at Rs 350 crore while the restructured standard assets portfolio has decreased to 0.18 per cent from 0.29 per cent.

He said the cost-to-income ratio rose marginally to 54.04 per cent, adding the move is to bring it down to 51-52 per cent over a few years.

"We continue to see strong growth momentum across all our diversified business segments while maintaining strong asset quality. We hope to close the year with a 30 per cent uptick in advance," he said.
Advances rose 38 per cent to Rs 36,889.58 crore, while deposits grew at a healthier 29 per cent to Rs 38,622.54 crore. Net interest income rose to Rs 467.29 crore in the quarter from Rs 321.58 crore, registering an increase of 45 per cent. Other income rose to Rs 258.22 crore from Rs 182.26 crore, an increase of 42 per cent.

Current accounts and savings accounts (Casa) ratio improved to 24.03 per cent from 23.15 per cent. Capital adequacy ratio as per Basel III stood at 15.03 per cent up from 13.80 per cent.
The RBL counter rose 1.43 per cent to Rs 535.50 on the BSE, whose benchmark sensex rallied 0.96 per cent to close at a record of 36,139.98 today.