Vijaya Bank Q2 net profit up 5.5% at Rs 144 crore

Bangalore-based Vijaya Bank on Friday reported increase in net profit by 5.5 per cent to Rs 143.75 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014.

The bank had reported net profit of Rs 136.22 crore during the corresponding quarter last year.

Total income rose 16 per cent to Rs 3,253.75 crore up from Rs 2,813.66 crore in the year-ago period. The operating profit was higher by 12 per cent at Rs 306 crore from Rs 273 crore a year ago.

The state-owned lender made provisioning of Rs 151.72 crore during the quarter, up 16 per cent from Rs 131.69 crore in the same period a year ago.

Gross non-performing assets or bad loans as a percentage of total advances increased to 2.85 per cent, from 2.77 per cent in the previous fiscal. Net NPAs also moved up to 1.88 per cent, from 1.75 per cent.

Fresh slippage

The bank witnessed fresh slippage of Rs 731 crore during the quarter, which includes Rs 300 crore from two accounts in the telecom sector that had gone through the restructuring process, Vijaya Bank Chairman and Managing Director V Kannan said.

Advances for the quarter increased by 9.95 per cent to Rs 78,540 crore, while deposits grew by 14 per cent to Rs 1.07 lakh crore. For the full year ending March 2015, the Bank expects a credit growth of 14 per cent. Its return on assets stood at 0.43 per cent from 0.46 per cent in the September quarter of 2013.

The bank managed to contain net NPAs at 1.88 per cent the provision coverage ratio stood at 63.10 per cent. The capital to risk weighted assets ratio is at 10.21 per cent under Basel-III with Tier-I ratio at 8.01 per cent and Tier-II at 2.20 per cent. The bank has raised Rs 500 crore in October through issue of Tier-II compliant bonds.

The bank has also received all RBI and government approvals for issuing a QIP to raise Rs 600 crore in the fourth quarter, Kannan said.

Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana the bank has so far opened 6.96 lakh new savings bank account.

The bank has 1,534 branches  and 1,554 ATMs as on September 30, 2014. Total staff strength at the end of the second quarter stood at 13,556.