Despite making large provisions for its overseas exposure, public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) today reported a 20.81 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 395.29 crore for the quarter ended September 2008 against Rs 327.19 crore during the corresponding period last year.
Bank of Baroda’s non-tax provisions and contingencies during the last quarter went up 146.72 per cent to Rs 241.91 crore compared with Rs 98.05 crore during July-September 2007. This was largely due to mark-to-market (MTM) provisions of Rs 175.85 crore for overseas exposure, said BoB Chairman and Managing Director M D Mallya.
The provisions for the overseas exposure were on account of exposure to credit-linked notes (CLNs) and Lehman Brothers. BoB’s exposure to CLNs was of the order of $313.72 million, for which Rs 153.35 crore has been set aside. In case of Lehman Brothers, which has filed for bankruptcy, the bank’s exposure was $10 million, and MTM provisions of $5 million (Rs 22.50 crore) have been made.
The bank’s overseas investment book was of the order of $822 million at the end of September. Among Indian banks, only State Bank of India and ICICI Bank have more foreign exposure than BoB. The two banks are due to announce their results on Monday.
“We have made adequate provisions on our overseas exposure, which is the main reason why profits from overseas operations have been hit,” Mallya said at a press conference.
During July-September this year, profit from the bank’s overseas operations fell by 50.94 per cent to Rs 38.82 crore compared with Rs 79.13 crore during the second quarter last year.
The bank’s total income for the quarter stood at Rs 4,026.90 crore, up 20.79 per cent from Rs 3,333.83 crore during July-September 2007. While the bank’s interest income rose 23.31 per cent to Rs 3,551 crore, treasury income was 26.98 per cent lower at Rs 92 crore.
