Indian Bank reported a decline of 21 per cent in its net profit in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012 at Rs. 345.42 crore against Rs. 438.86 crore in the same period in the previous year. This was mainly due to reversal of interest on account of restructured loans and excess provisioning against non-performing loans.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director, said the bank had made an additional provision of Rs. 191 crore towards non-performing loans with education loan portfolio accounting for Rs. 52 crore. Interest reversal accounted for Rs. 171 crore on the restructured loans.
Mr. Bhasin said the net NPA ratio rose to 1.33 per cent in the fourth quarter from 0.53 per cent in the year-ago period. The addition to NPAs was due to difficult economic conditions and a lot of project delays. This was in line with the market trends, Mr. Bhasin said.
The total income for the fourth quarter rose by 22 per cent to Rs. 3,498.02 crore from Rs. 2,865.80 crore.
Total provisions (other than tax) and contingencies absorbed a sizable amount of Rs. 561.85 crore during the quarter under reference against Rs. 126.80 crore in the same period in the previous year.
There was a tax reversal of Rs. 109.99 crore in Q4 while tax expenses stood at Rs. 337.37 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
For the year ended March 31, 2012 total income improved by 27.7 per cent to Rs. 13,463 crore from Rs.10,543 crore in the previous year, while the net profit was marginally higher at Rs. 1,747 crore as compared to Rs. 1,714 crore.
The overall business of the bank registered a growth of 16.8 per cent to Rs. 2.12 lakh crore from Rs. 1.82 lakh crore. Deposits rose by 14.2 per cent to Rs. 1.21 lakh crore from Rs. 1.06 lakh crore while gross advances increased by 20.4 per cent to Rs. 91,184 crore from Rs. 75,726 crore. Interest income improved by 30.6 per cent to Rs. 12,231 crore from Rs. 9,361 crore.
The bank has announced a dividend of Rs. 7.50 per share.
Mr. Bhasin said the bank would focus on small medium enterprises, agriculture and retail sectors for its growth in the current financial year.
