Indian Bank reported standalone net profit for the quarter ended March, which rose 47% to Rs 1,447 crore from a year-ago period due to increase in interest income, reduction in provisions and improvement in asset quality.
During an interaction, MD & CEO SL Jain said, ‘We have crossed all the parameters set by the Reserve Bank. “Our recovery was more than the slippage and we recovered ₹ 8,500 crore.”
“Going forward, we are focused on providing value added and tailored solutions through empowered workforce skills and smart use of technology,” he added.
Interest earned increased by 45% to ₹12,244 crore. Net interest income increased from ₹4,255 crore to ₹5,508 crore. Net interest margin increased from 2.87% to 3.59%.
Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declined by 252 bps to 5.95%, while net NPAs declined by 137 bps to 0.90%. Provision coverage ratio increased by 644 bps to 93.82%. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.49%.
RAM (Retail, Agriculture and MSME) advances grew by 12% to ₹2.73 lakh crore. The contribution of RAM to gross domestic advances is 61%. Retail, agriculture and MSME advances grew by 13%, 6% and 7% respectively. Home loans (including mortgages) grew by 11%, auto loans by 28% and personal loans by 46%.
Total business grew by 8% (₹10.95 lakh crore), with deposits growing by 5% (₹6.21 lakh crore) and advances by 14% (₹4.74 lakh crore). CASA’s share in deposits was 42%.
The board recommended a dividend of ₹8.60 per share.
Mr Jain said the bank did not go for any capital increase during FY23 as the profit was sufficient to meet the growth needs. However, for FY24, it was decided to raise up to ₹7,000 crore through various means depending on the requirement.
“Last year, we recovered ₹8,500 crore and in this financial year also, we have set a similar target. We have fixed a growth of 8-10 per cent in deposits and 10-12 per cent in credit.
Indian Bank has already started doing rupee business with three banks in Sri Lanka. It is in talks with banks in Russia, he said.