Canara Bank posts record loss in Q4

Public sector lender Canara Bank on Friday posted a huge net loss of Rs 4,860 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2018, its highest ever in any quarter, due to higher provisions for bad loans.

The bank had posted net profit of Rs 214.18 crore in the year-ago period.

Provisions for non-performing assets almost tripled to Rs 8,763 crore in the fourth quarter compared with Rs 2,924 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.

Rakesh Sharma, MD and CEO of Canara Bank said it was a one-time loss and it would not be repeated. "Slippages were due to revised guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India towards reporting non-performing assets," he said.

The bank's gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 11.84% in the fourth quarter compared with 10.38% in the preceding quarter and 9.63% a year ago.

In view of fraud reported during the year in certain banks in respect of one gems and jewellery borrower group accounts, Canara Bank has classified these accounts as non-performing asset and provided fully, the bank said in a statement.

Canara Bank's total income stood at Rs 11,555.11 crore during the fourth quarter compared with Rs 12,889.20 crore in the same quarter a year ago, showing a decrease of 10.35%.

For the full financial year, the bank's net loss stood at Rs 4,222.24 crore compared with a net profit of Rs 1,121.92 crore. The bank's provision coverage ratio as of March 31, 2018, stood at 58.06%.

Rakesh Sharma also pointed out that the bank's Net Interest Income surged 23.21% during FY18 to Rs 12,163 crore compared with Rs 9,872 crore in the previous fiscal.

Canara Bank shares closed 0.92% down at Rs 246.35 on the BSE on Friday.