CHENNAI: Chennai-based public-sector lender Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Tuesday recorded a net loss of Rs 971.1 crore for the third quarter ending December 31, 2017, driven by higher provisioning for bad loans. The figure in the year-ago period was Rs 554.44 crore.
Sequentially, however, the loss narrowed as the bank had posted a loss of Rs 1,222 crore in the second quarter. Net loss for the nine-month period between April and December 2017, too, narrowed to Rs 2,692.76 crore against Rs 2,770.07 crore in the same period a year ago.
Total income fell to Rs 5,062.38 crore during
December 2017 quarter, against Rs 5,599.50 crore in the same period a year ago, while interest income rose to Rs 4,254.69 crore for the quarter against Rs 4,878.40 crore a year ago. Non-interest income increased to Rs 807.7 crore from Rs 721.11 crore. For the nine-month period, total income went down to Rs 15,847.23 crore from Rs 17,429.55 crore.
“The net loss is not due to the operations but mainly due to the provisioning. The bank has made over Rs 1,200 crore provisions this quarter for NPA alone,” said R Subramaniakumar, managing director & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank. Total provision coverage ratio (PCR) improved on a quarter-on-quarter basis to 57.83 per cent as of December 2017 from 55.88 per cent in September.
The lender was also able to make significant recoveries of Rs 3,020.5 crore for the quarter, with a majority of the recoveries coming from small accounts. In December, total slippages was restricted to Rs 1431.7 crore.
Its asset quality showed improvement both yearly and sequentially. Gross NPAs stood at Rs 33,267 crore with a ratio of 21.95 per cent against Rs 34,502 crore a year ago (22.42 per cent). “Further, we are confident of reducing our gross NPAs to below 20 per cent,” he noted. During the quarter under review, net NPAs were contained to Rs 17,761.2 crore with a ratio of 13.08 per cent as compared to Rs 19,900.75 crore with a ratio of 14.32 per cent.
Emphasising on the bank’s continued focus on small-ticket loans, Subramaniakumar said the bank has proactively exited high-risk corporate accounts.
The upsides
Sequentially, the loss narrowed as the bank posted a loss of Rs 1,222 crore in the second quarter. Net loss for the nine-month period between April and December 2017, too, narrowed to Rs 2,692.76 crore.