Bank of Baroda reports Rs3,342 crore loss in Dec quarter.!!

Mumbai: Bank of Baroda, the country’s second largest public sector bank, on Saturday reported a loss of Rs.3342 crore as bad loans and provisions against such loans surged. The reported loss would have been higher if it wasn’t for a tax write back of Rs.1,118 crore taken during the quarter.

The surge in reported gross non performing assets (NPAs) and provisions followed an asset quality review conducted by the Reserve Bank of India across the banking sector. Following the review, the RBI has asked banks to provide for visible stressed assets and classify them as NPAs rather than delaying recognition. The RBI wants banks to clean up their books by March 2017.

At Bank of Baroda, Net loss for the quarter was at Rs.3342 crore compared to a net profit of Rs.334 crore in the same quarter last year. In the September ended quarter, the bank had reported a net profit of Rs.124.48 crore.

In absolute terms, gross NPAs at Bank of Baroda surged 64% over the previous quarter to Rs.38,934 crore compared to Rs.23, 710 crore at the end of the September quarter. The gross NPA ratio, as a percentage of total loans, jumped to 9.68% from 5.56% in the previous quarter and 3.85% in the year ago quarter.

Provisions against bad load in the December ended quarter stood at Rs.6164.55 crore compared to Rs.1891.70 crore in the September quarter.

Post provisioning, net NPAs were at 5.67% at the end of the December quarter compared to 3.08% in the September quarter and 2.11% in the year ago quarter.

Net interest income, or the core income a bank earns from the lending business, also fell sharply by 17.6% to Rs2706 crore in the December ended quarter compared to Rs 3286 crore in the year ago quarter.