Private sector lender YES Bank on Wednesday posted a net profit growth of 18.8% y-o-y to R430.2 crore for the quarter ended March 31. For FY14, the bank posted a net profit of R1,617.8 crore, an increase of 24.4%. Net profit was boosted by a 12.8% y-o-y rise in net interest income (NII) to R719.6 crore, which was supported by lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
As a consequence, YES Bank?s net interest margin (NIM) increased 10 basis points to 3% in Q4. Rajat Monga, chief financial officer, said the bank was looking to increase its NIM to about 3.15% in FY15. Non-interest income increased 17.4% y-o-y to R445.5 crore and the bank?s operating profit was up 7.3% y-o-y to R680.4 crore.
Asset quality improved marginally, and gross non-performing assets (NPAs) decreased from 0.39% of gross advances in Q3 to 0.31% of gross advances in Q4.
Net NPAs stood at 0.05% of net advances. The bank said that there was no fresh restructuring of loans during the quarter and restructured advances stood at R100.9 crore or 0.18% of gross advances. Monga added that the bank sold R12 crore worth of bad loans in Q4 and made recoveries worth R35 crore.
?Our NPA position has improved compared to the December quarter. The economic environment continues to be challenging, but it is safe to say that the stress of asset quality has bottomed or peaked out,? Monga said in a post-results conference
Total advances were up 18.4% y-o-y at R55,633 crore in Q4. Large corporate lending accounted for 63.3% of the advances portfolio.
Mid-sized corporate lending accounted for 15.5% and branch banking, which includes retail and MSME lending, accounted for 21.2% of the advances.
Total deposits grew 10.8% y-o-y to R74,192 crore. Current and savings account (Casa) deposits grew 28.8% y-o-y to R16,344.7 crore, taking the Casa ratio to 22%.
On media reports that L&T Finance holdings was looking to buy a stake in YES Bank, Monga said: ?The subject has been discussed in today’s press and the bank’s responses has also been made out in the press. If the bank is issuing shares, it will be done with full public disclosure.?
The YES Bank scrip ended up 1.67% at R441.5 on the BSE.
