JOIN US Mangaluru-headquartered private sector lender Karnataka Bank on Friday reported a 20.55% decline in net profit at Rs 106.79 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2016, on account of rise in bad loans.
The bank had reported net profit of Rs 134.42 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. However, the bank’s total income rose by 10.68% to Rs 1,447.68 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 1,308 crore in the year-ago period, Karnataka Bank said in a regulatory filing to exchanges.
Karnataka Bank MD and CEO P Jayarama Bhat said, “Even under adverse economic conditions, Karnataka Bank has been able to deliver a strong and consistent result, thus depicting the strong fundamentals of the bank. Going forward, I am sure we are entering into a sweet spot.”
The operating profit of the bank has increased from Rs 189.35 crore to Rs 254.37 crore showing a growth rate of 34.34%. The net interest income has increased by 23.48% to Rs 359.73 crore from Rs 291.32 crore. Asset quality slipped further with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans increasing to 3.44% of gross advances as of March from 2.95% a year ago.
The bank has recommended a final dividend of Rs 5 per equity share for 2015-16. Shares of Karnataka Bank on Friday closed at Rs 120.05 a piece on BSE, up 7.14% .
Net NPAs grew to 2.35% of net advances in the January-March period as against 1.98% in the same quarter last fiscal.
For the entire fiscal, the bank’s net profit fell to Rs 415.2 crore compared with Rs 451.4 crore in the preceding fiscal. The capital adequacy ratio of the Bank stood at 12.03% (under Basel III) as at the end of March-2016, as against minimum 9% stipulated by RBI. Total income for the fiscal increased to Rs 5,535 crore from Rs 5,205.4 crore in financial year 2014-15.