Bank of Baroda narrows Q4 loss to Rs 991 crore, NPA provisions at over Rs 5,550 crore

State-owned Bank of Baroda Wednesday reported narrowing of its net loss to Rs 991 crore in the March 2019 quarter. The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 3,102.34 crore in the similar January-March period of fiscal 2017-18.

However, compared sequentially, there was a net profit of Rs 471.25 crore during the third quarter ended December 2018. "The bank recorded loss on a standalone basis of Rs 991 crore for fourth (quarter of) 2018-19 due to acceleration in provisions," it said in a regulatory filing.

For the whole year, standalone and consolidated profit stood at Rs 433 crore and Rs 1,100 crore, respectively. There were losses of Rs 2,431.81 crore and Rs 1,887.10 crore on standalone and consolidated basis in the year-ago period. Total income in the March quarter of 2018-19 rose to Rs 15,284.59 crore, against Rs 12,735.16 crore a year. For the entire year, standalone income was up by 11.4 per cent to Rs 56,065.10 crore and on the consolidated basis, it rose by 12.5 per cent to Rs 60,793.30 crore.

On the asset front, the bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) fell to 9.61 per cent of the gross advances at the end of March 2019, against 12.26 per cent by March 2018. Net NPAs were 3.33 per cent, down from 5.49 per cent. Absolute amount of net NPAs also declined by Rs 3,521 crore to Rs 15,609 crore, the lowest in eight quarters, the bank said.

The bank said it parked aside Rs 5,550.10 crore as provisioning towards bad loans and diminution value of all restructured accounts. In the year-ago period, such provisions had stood at Rs 7,052.53 crore. The bank's total business stood at Rs 11,07,509 crore as on March 31, 2019, up by 8.71 per cent from Rs 10,18,747 crore as on March 31, 2018.

Exposure in accounts under NCLT-1 list was Rs 3,908 crore and NCLT-2 list was Rs 3,831 crore as on March 31, 2019, Bank of Baroda said, adding the provision coverage under these list were 95.63 per cent and 84.11 per cent, respectively.
Shares of Bank of Baroda Wednesday rose 0.68 per cent to close at Rs 126.20 apiece on the BSE.