Andhra Bank has reported a sharp decline in its net profit at Rs. 46 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2013, against Rs. 257 crore in the same period in the previous year. Total income during the period rose by 12.5 per cent to Rs. 3,901 crore from Rs. 3,469 crore in the year-ago period.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, C. VR. Rajendran, Chairman and Managing Director, said higher provisioning against non-performing assets had impacted the bottom line. Out of the total amount of Rs. 428 crore (Rs. 285 crore) set aside towards provisions and contingencies, non-performing assets alone accounted for Rs. 333.97 crore (Rs. 149.20 crore).
The gross NPAs stood at Rs. 5,692 crore (5.55 per cent of advances) and the net NPA at Rs. 3,653 crore (3.65 per cent). Mr. Rajendran said exposure to large corporates in the power sector (11 per cent of the portfolio) and other companies in the infrastructure sector (10 per cent) resulted in the accumulation of non-performing assets. However, he said the quality of assets was better and most of them were fully secured. The CMD said the bank would increase its focus on retail and MSME sectors where the recovery was good and margins were strong. By doing so, the credit exposure to corporates would come down to 40 per cent from the existing 52 per cent, he said.
Total business of the bank stood at Rs. 2.34 lakh crore as on December 31, 2013, recording a growth of 15.6 per cent year-on-year.
Deposits grew by 17.1 per cent to Rs. 1.32 lakh crore from Rs. 1.12 lakh crore and advances by 13.7 per cent to Rs. 1.03 lakh crore from Rs.90,292 crore at the end of December 31, 2012.
The headline of this article has been corrected for a factual error.
