Central Bank Q1 net up 77.87% at Rs 418 cr, credit costs decline sharply

Central Bank of India said on Monday its net profit in the quarter ended June 2023 (Q1 FY24) grew 77.87 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 418 crore, helped by net interest income rising and a fall in provisions for bad loans.

Sequentially, the public sector lender’s profit was down 26.8 per cent from Rs 571 crore in the quarter ended March 2023 (Q4Fy23). Its stock closed 3.4 per cent up at Rs 31.4 per share on BSE.

Net interest income (NII) expanded 48.27 per cent to Rs 3,176 crore in Q1 FY24 compared to Rs 2,142 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Sequentially, NII fell 9.59 per cent from Rs 3,513 crore in Q4 FY23.

 

Net interest margin (NIM), excluding one-off items, expanded by 63 basis points to 3.51 per cent in Q1 FY24 compared to 2.88 per cent in Q1 FY23. Sequentially, NIM was down from 4.1 per cent in Q4 FY23, according to an analyst presentation.

Non-interest income rose 15.4 per cent YoY to Rs 959 crore. Sequentially, it fell by 32.65 per cent from Rs 1,424 crore in Q4 FY23. The Mumbai-based lender’s provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) declined from Rs 823.5 crore in Q1 FY23 to Rs 243.6 crore in Q1 FY24.

Advances expanded 12.95 per cent YoY to Rs 2.19 trillion in Q 1FY24. Total deposits increased 6.05 per cent YoY to Rs 3.63 trillion. The share of low-cost deposits — current account and saving accounts (CASA) — declined at 49.76 per cent at the end of June 2023, down from 51.15 per cent a year ago, according to an analyst presentation.

The asset quality profile improved with gross NPA declining to 4.95 per cent in June 2023 from 14.9 per cent in June 2022. The net NPAs also declined, to 1.75 per cent in June 2023 from 3.93 per cent a year ago.

The provision coverage ratio (PCR) improved to 92.23 per cent in June 2023 from 86.61 per cent a year ago.

Capital adequacy stood at 14.42 per cent at the end of June 2023.