Bandhan Bank profit surges 45% to Rs 1,952 crore in FY19, provisions jump 96.5%

Bandhan Bank on Thursday reported a 45.02 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 1,952 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2019, as compared to Rs 1,346 crore in the last fiscal, driven by rise in operating profit and net interest income.

The private sector lender's net interest income (NII), difference between interest earned and interest expended, surged 48.28 per cent to Rs 4,496 crore in FY19 from Rs 3,032 crore in the previous year, Bandhan Bank said in a statement.

Net interest margin (NIM) grew 10.43 per cent versus 9.69 per cent in the last fiscal.

As on March 31, 2019, operating profit increased by 54.24 per cent to Rs 3,748 crore from Rs 2,430 crore in financial year 2017-18. Provisions and contingencies almost doubled to Rs 735 crore in FY19 from Rs 374 crore in FY18.

The bank's asset quality declined in FY19 with gross non-performing assets (Gross NPAs) ratio - bad loans as a percentage of gross advances - expanding to 2.04 per cent versus 1.25 per cent in the previous year. Net NPAs ratio was stable at 0.58 per cent in FY19.

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During the January-March quarter, the net profit jumped 67.78 per cent to Rs 651 crore as compared to Rs 388 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. 

The NII for the quarter surged 45.60 per cent to Rs 1,258 crore from Rs 864 crore in Q4FY18. Net Interest Margin (NlM) for the current quarter stands at 10.69 per cent against 9.32 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

On the asset front, Gross NPAs ratio stood at 2.04 per cent in Q4FY19 against 1.25 per cent in the same quarter last year, while net NPAs ratio stood at 0.58 per cent.

The banks' board has recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per equity share having face value of Rs 10 each, subject to the approval of shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting.

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Commenting on the financial performance, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and CEO of Bandhan Bank said: "The year 2018-19 has been a challenging year for the banking industry. We closed the financial year on positive note with visibility of growth and improvement in asset quality and liability profile."

Boosted by strong earnings, shares of Bandhan Bank surged 5.28 per cent to Rs 629.60 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange at 2:20 PM.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar