Vijaya Bank Q3 profit rises 80% to 143 cr

Public sector lender Vijaya Bank on Wednesday reported a 80.2% increase in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018, at Rs 143.38 crore, on account of robust growth in retail credit.

The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 79.56 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Provisions and contingencies during the quarter fell by 14.68% year-on-year to Rs 577.54 crore. Vijaya Bank’s total income for the third quarter went up 19% to Rs 4,106.42 crore compared with Rs 3,450.81 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Vijaya Bank’s net interest income for the third quarter stood at Rs 1,187.1 crore, an increase of 2.85% compared with Rs 1,154.15 crore in the third quarter of the last fiscal.

Its total business was up by 23.47% at Rs 3,07,248 crore and its gross deposits for the third quarter were up by 26.32% at Rs 1,74,615 crore. The bank’s retail credit was up by 23.40% and it witnessed a 24.61% increase in housing loans portfolio. This is Vijaya Bank’s second last quarterly result ahead of its amalgamation with Bank of Baroda beginning April 1, 2019.

R A Sankara Narayanan, MD, and CEO of the bank said gross NPAs of the bank declined from 6.17% to 6.14% in the third quarter. However, net NPAs were at 4.08%, up from 3.99% in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Also, the bank’s provision coverage ratio improved to 61.93% from 61.25% and its CD ratio for the third quarter stood at 75.96%.

Talking about the merger, Sankara Narayanan said, “The banks are working on the HR and IT functions. There are three different committees including functional to look after the merger.” He added that the bank will be maintaining 20% credit growth and record good profit in the last quarter too.

Shares of the bank on Wednesday closed at Rs 44.50, down 1.87% from the previous close.