BoB reports net profit of Rs 1,779 cr against Rs 1,047-cr loss in Q4FY21

Mumbai: Public sector lender Bank of Baroda reported a net profit of ₹1,779 crore in the quarter ending March 2022 against a loss of ₹1,047 crore in the same period last year on the back of lower provisions and improved loan growth.

Net interest income grew 21% to ₹8,612 crore in the fourth quarter versus ₹7,107 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Net interest margin for the quarter under review was 3.08%, an increase of 36 basis points compared to same period last year.

“The profitability has shown all round improvement on most metrics, our asset quality has continued to improve, and we have managed to keep slippages below 2% of our overall advances,” said Sanjiv Chadha, MD, Bank of Baroda. “The key improvement for us have been collection efficiency which is now over 97%, and that has led to a sharp decline in our special mention accounts.”

On asset quality, the lender saw an improvement with the gross non-performing assets falling to 6.61% of the gross advances by end of March 2022, from 8.87% in March 2021. Net NPAs too declined to 1.72% against 3.09% a year ago. Fresh slippages disappointed a little coming in at ₹4,514 crore against ₹2,800 crore in the December quarter. For full-year the slippage ratio was at 1.61% while the credit cost stood at 1.95%.

The board also approved raising additional capital of up to ₹2,500 crore through additional tier I or tier II debt capital instruments.