Union Bank of India reports Rs 1.39 billion net profit in Q2 FY19

Union Bank of India has seen a net profit of Rs 1.39 billion for the second quarter ending September 2018, on improvement in the net interest income and lower provisioning for bad loans.

The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 15.3 billion in the July-September period of 2017-18. It had posted a net profit of Rs 1.29 billion in the first quarter of the current financial year. The stock of the bank closed at 172.00, up by 2.11 per cent from the previous close on the BSE. The net interest income rose by 7.5 per cent to Rs 24.94 billion in Q2, from Rs 23.21 billion in the same quarter last year. The net interest margins (NIM) improved to 2.18 per cent in Q2 from 2.08 per cent in Q2FY18.

Raj Kiran Rai, its managing director and chief executive, said the pricing power is back with banks and are able to decide rates based on risk profile of borrowers. The bank is maintaining guidance of 2.25 per cent for FY19, Rai said.