Central Bank Q4 net turns profitable at Rs 169 cr

Moneycontrol Bureau

State owned Central Bank of India reported a net profit of Rs 169 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 as against a net loss of Rs 105 crore boosted by a troika of lower provisions, robust net interest income (NII) and higher non-interest income. Its shares on Friday rose more than 4 percent to close the day's trading at Rs 72 on NSE. Its net interest income (NII) or the difference between interest earned and paid out, increased more than 21 percent to about Rs 1,500 crore. The net interest margin (NIM) went up to 2.68 per cent from 2.59 per cent last year. Other income jumped 47 percent to Rs 636 crore. "Our credit quality improves, which led to fall in provisions. This along with other and core interest income added to our net profit spike," Mohan V Tanksale, CMD, Central Bank of India told reporters here in Mumbai. "We expect to attain 18 percent growth in loans and deposits in 2013-14. We will reduce the share of bulk deposits below 15 percent. Our net interest margin will be in the range of 2.75 - 3 percent with an improvement in CASA. We aim to reduce the gross NPA ratio to below 4 percent and net NPA ratio to below 2.5 percent (in FY14)," he said. During the quarter, provisions plunged to Rs 445 crore compared with Rs 860 crore a year back during the same period. Gross NPA ratio stood at 4.80 percent as against 4.83 percent. Net NPA ratio improved to 2.90 percent from 3.09 percent a year ago. Loans expanded nearly 17 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Retail loans increased substantially by 28 percent to around Rs 21,400 crore. Deposits grew 15 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 2.26 lakh crore. The current and savings account deposits (CASA), source of cheap money, rose 13 percent Rs 73,600 crore. Currently, the share of CASA stood at 34 percent of total deposits. The bank added around Rs 1,500 crore loans to its outstanding restructuring book, which stood at Rs 22,681 crore. The lender has a pipeline of about Rs 1,000 crore loans for restructuring in April - June quarter. The bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.49 percent versus 10.75 percent, Q-o-Q. Central Bank of India will explore fund raising options during the financial year. saikat.das@network18online.com