Tax writeback drives Indian Bank's Q4 profit to Rs 292 cr

Public sector lender Indian Bank's fourth quarter (January-March) net profit stood at Rs 292 crore, down slightly higher-than-expected 15.5 percent year-on-year.

The bank has received a tax writeback of Rs 203 crore during the quarter.

Net interest income increased marginally to Rs 1,107.4 crore from Rs 1,082.6 crore Y-o-Y, which too was lower than forecast of Rs 1,190 crore.

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Gross non-performing asset (NPA) went up 15 bps quarter-on-quarter (rise 130 bps Y-o-Y) to 3.33 percent and net NPA rose 9 bps sequentially (up 93 bps Y-o-Y) to 2.26 percent in March quarter.

Provisions and contingencies jumped 15.5 percent Q-o-Q (decline 15 percent year-on-year) to Rs 475.6 crore in fourth quarter.

Provision coverage ratio stood at 60.14 percent as on March 31.

At 11:58 hours IST, the stock was down 1.35 percent to Rs 154 amid hefty volumes on Bombay Stock Exchange. It touched a fresh 52-week low in morning trade.