Allahabad Bank FY19 loss widens to Rs 8,457.38 crore on higher NPA provisions

State-owned lender Allahabad Bank on Friday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 8,457.38 crore for the financial year 2018-19, widening from a net loss of Rs 4,574.22 crore in the previous year.  

"Total income during FY19 stood at Rs 18,806.38 crore as against Rs 19,487.51 crore a year ago," Allahabad Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The bank's provisions and contingencies increased to Rs 11,899.51 crore in FY19 from Rs 10,031.27 crore in FY18. Provision coverage ratio (PCR), an indicator of the provision made against bad loans from the profit generated, significantly improved to 79.85 per cent at the end of March 2019 as against 62.91 per cent at the end of March 2018.

On the asset front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio - bad loans as a percentage of gross advances - stood at 17.55 per cent in FY19, against 15.96 per cent in FY18. Net NPA, however, declined to 5.22 per cent as compared to 8.04 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The provisions for NPA increased to Rs 11,761.13 crore, against Rs 10,326.45 crore in the last financial year.

Also Read: SBI posts net profit of Rs 862 crore in FY19 on higher interest income, asset quality improves

On the quarterly basis, the bank reported a net loss of Rs 3,834.07 crore during the fourth quarter of 2018-19, as compared to loss of Rs 3,509.63 crore in the same quarter last year.

Allahabad Bank's total income, however, grew to Rs 4,602.86 crore in Q4FY19 from Rs 4,259.37 crore in Q4FY18, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

During the March quarter, the bank received a capital infusion of about Rs 6,896 crore from the government.

"During 2018-19, 322 fraud cases were reported involving a total amount of Rs 70.54 crore. Of these accounts, the bank has recovered a total amount of Rs 13.68 crore and has written back provision of Rs 8.53 crore during the quarter," the bank said.

On divergence in asset classification and provision for NPAs in compliance with the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) of RBI, the bank reported a divergence of Rs 1,128.70 crore in gross NPAs and Rs 709.20 crore in net NPAs. Meanwhile, the divergence in provisioning stood at Rs 1,022.40 crore.

Also Read: Canara Bank reports net profit of Rs 347.02 crore in FY19; provision coverage ratio improves

Allahabad Bank has come out of RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework in February this year.

The board of directors of the bank has not recommended any dividend for the financial year 2018-19.

Allahabad Bank shares closed trade at Rs 45 apiece, up 0.90 per cent, on the BSE on Friday.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar