Bank of India March quarter profit rose by a huge 142 per centMumbai: State-run Bank of India on Tuesday reported a 142.31 per cent rise in standalone profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 606 crore in the quarter ended March 2022 on higher net interest income (NII) and improvement in asset quality.This compares with a PAT of Rs 250 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal.For the full year 2021-22, the lender reported a 57.60 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 3,405 crore from Rs 2,160 crore in FY21.Speaking to reporters, the bank’s Managing Director and CEO A K Das said, “Asset quality further improved with reduction in gross NPAs both amount wise and percentage wise.”He said the bank’s thrust was on advances growth rather than deposit growth. It also laid emphasis on outreach campaigns for business growth and building bonds with the customers in the previous fiscal.Net Interest Income (NII) increased by 35.77 per cent to Rs 3,986 crore in Q4 FY22, from Rs 2,936 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.Net Interest Margin (NIM) improved to 2.58 per cent from 2.01 per cent.Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) declined by 19.33 per cent to Rs 45,605 crore in March 2022 from Rs 56,535 crore in March 2021. GNPA ratio declined to 9.98 per cent from 13.77 per cent.Net NPA ratio stood at 2.34 per cent as against 3.35 per cent.Mr Das said the gross NPA is expected to be lower than 8 per cent by March 2023.He further said the bank’s exposure to Future Group is about Rs 1,045 crore and it has made 100 per cent provisions for the account. For Srei Group, where its exposure is Rs 963 crore, a 50 per cent provisioning has been made.The bank has projected a credit growth of around 10-12 per cent in the current financial year.Mr Das said corporate credit growth in FY22 was muted.For the entire last year, the lender sanctioned more than Rs 70,000 crore but the availment was less at around Rs 29,000 crore. Even the availment of overdraft (OD) limits was around 68-69 per cent.”We believe that this time, apart from MSME, mid-cap segments, corporate segment will receive added focus, which will be helped by the fact that the government has come out with lots of initiatives such as the Rs 7.5 lakh crore capex plan, which will have multiplier effects and create new demand.”We have got adequate capital also to fund the corporate sector growth. I think 10-12 per cent (credit growth) is the bare minimum that we could be expecting this year,” Das said.As on March 31, 2022, bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) stood at 17.04 per cent as against 14.93 per cent in March 2021.On capital raising plans, Mr Das said the lender may raise Rs 2,500 crore this year.”The government is having 81 per cent shareholding in the bank which we are planning to bring down to 75 per cent. We have taken in-principle approval from the board for raising about Rs 2,500 crore in this financial year,” he said, adding the fundraise will be through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) or Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) route.
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