Public sector lender Canara Bank on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 347.02 for the financial year 2018-19 as against net loss of Rs 4,222.24 crore in FY18.
The bank's net interest income (NII), which is the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose by 19.03 per cent to Rs 14,478.12 crore in FY19 versus Rs 12,163.33 crore in the previous year.
Canara Bank's operating profit (EBITDA) for FY19 improved by 10.9 per cent to Rs 9,548 crore as compared to Rs 10590 crore in FY18.
"Total income during the fiscal increased to Rs 53,385.30 crore from Rs 48,194.94 crore a year earlier," Canara Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The Bengaluru-headquartered bank's provisions and contingencies declined to Rs 12,918.28 crore in FY19 from Rs 16,109.10 crore in FY18. Provision Coverage ratio improved from 58.06 per cent in FY18 to 68.13 per cent in FY19.
On the asset front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio - bad loans as a percentage of gross advances - declined to 8.83 per cent versus 11.84 per cent in the previous year. Net NPA also slipped to 5.37 per cent as compared to 7.48 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
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Gross Advances was up by 10.82 per cent at Rs 4,44,216 crore, while Gross Deposits grew by 14.15 per cent at Rs 5,99,033 crore.
During the January-March quarter, the bank's net loss narrowed to Rs 551.53 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 4,859.77 crore in the same quarter last year, helped by lower provisioning for bad loans.
The bank's provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 5,523.50 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2019. As on March 31, 2019, Canara Bank restructured as many as 41,602 MSME account, as per the RBI directive, with amount involving Rs 753.51 crore as a relief to them under Goods and Services Tax.
Net Interest Income grew 17.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,500.15 crore in Q4FY19, the bank said.
Gross NPA ratio stood at 8.83 per cent in Q4FY19 versus 11.84 per cent in Q4FY18, while its Net NPA ratio was reported at 5.37 per cent against 7.48 per cent in the year ago quarter.
During the March quarter, the bank detected six fraud accounts amounting to Rs 704.06 crore, wherein the bank is required to provide Rs 429.87 crore, in addition to the provision of Rs 274.19 crore already provided up to December 2018. "The total amount provided during the quarter is Rs 107.47 crore, representing 25 per cent of the provision to be made. Further, the remaining unamortised provision amount is debited to other reserves, which will be amortised during first three quarters of next financial year," it said.
Meanwhile, Canara Bank shares closed trade at Rs 265.45 apiece, up 3.21 per cent, on the BSE.
Edited by Chitranjan Kumar
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