The net profit was Rs 339 crore for the quarter against Rs 716 crore in the year ago period.
The bank attributed the fall in profit to the stress in microfinance portfolio, which was 4.8% of its total loan book of Rs 2.31 lakh crore.
“The profit was largely impacted by reduced income from slowing down disbursal of micro-finance loans, increase in provisions on micro-finance and normalization of credit costs of non-microfinance business,” the bank said.
Provisions for the quarter stood at Rs 1,338 crore as compared with Rs 655 crore in the year-ago quarter, driven by the higher slippages in the microfinance book. The bank said provisions were stable for the non-microfinance portfolio.
“We are specifically tracking the microfinance loan book closely considering the industry situation… The credit issues in the microfinance segment is a transitionary issue which is likely to be resolved within a few quarters,” managing director V Vaidyanathan was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the bank.The bank’s operating profit for the quarter was 13% higher at Rs 1759 crore against Rs 1563 crore in the year ago-period. Net interest income grew 14% year-on-year at Rs 4,902 crore.Net interest margin for the quarter was at 6.04% as compared with 6.18% in the preceding quarter.
Its gross non-performing assets ratio worsened to 1.94% as of December 31, 2024, against 2.04% a year back. Net NPA was 0.52% as compared with 0.68%. Excluding microfinance business, the GNPA was at 1.81%.
The bank’s loans and advances expanded by 22% year-on-year to Rs 2.31 lakh crore at the end of December. Deposits grew 29% to Rs 2.27 lakh crore with the low-cost current and savings account ratio sustaining at 48%.
