Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Friday reported a 56% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net profit to Rs 111.78 crore for the December quarter as a 65% jump in provisions to Rs 3,426.51 crore shaved off a chunk of the lender’s profits. Net interest income (NII) — the difference between interest earned and interest expended — rose 40% y-o-y to Rs 4,394 crore, and the domestic net interest margin (NIM), a key profitability ratio, stood at 3.24% in Q3, up 56 basis points (bps) on a sequential basis. The bank delivered a mixed performance on the asset quality front, with the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio rising to 11.31% from 11.16% at the end of September, and the net NPA ratio declining to 4.97% from 5.0% a quarter ago.
Provision coverage ratio (excluding technical write-offs) improved to 59.05% from the December-end level of 57.73%. BoB said it has made an additional provision of Rs 6.57 crore for Q3 with respect to standard advances to certain stressed sectors of the economy. Provisions made with respect to accounts being resolved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code stood at Rs 145 crore.
The bank’s total advances grew 14.12% y-o-y to Rs 3.99 lakh crore, driven by retail loans, which grew 33.37% y-o-y. BoB saw total deposits fall 2.8% on a y-o-y basis to Rs 5.73 lakh crore. Current account savings accounts (CASA) deposits grew 1.5% and the share of CASA deposits in total domestic deposits rose to 40.57% at the end of December from 40.46% a year ago.
