Bank of Baroda earned Rs 1,779 crore in the March quarter

Bank of Baroda on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 1,778.77 crore for the quarter ended March 2022, as against a net loss of Rs 1,046.50 crore for the year-ago period. Lenders have reported a strong increase in net interest income (NII).

NII increased by 21.18% year on year to Rs 8,611.67 crore from Rs 7,106.62 crore in the same period last year. Non-interest income, however, declined by 47% over Rs 2,522.29 crore over the year. Net interest margin (NIM) increased by 36 basis points to 3.08% in the fourth quarter of FY21 from 2.72%. On a quarterly basis, it dropped 5-bps from 3.13%.

Banks’ provision (excluding tax) for the period under review increased by 5.10% to Rs 3,736.38 crore from Rs 3,555.06 crore in Q4FY21.

Asset quality improved as gross NPA decreased by Rs 54,059 crore in Q4FY22 from Rs 66,671 crore in Q4FY21, and gross NPA ratio improved from 8.87% to 6.61%. Gross NPA stood at Rs 55,997 crore on 3FY22.

While domestic current account deposits stood at Rs 68,780 crore, an increase of 11.6% year-on-year, domestic savings bank deposits increased by 11.4% to Rs 3,41,343 crore. Overall domestic CASA grew 11.4%.

Speaking at a virtual press meet after announcing the results, MD and CEO Sanjeev Chadda said the bank has confirmed that the growth in assets has taken place in the segments that give it good margins. “In terms of deposits, the growth of our deposits was actually slow because we wanted to make sure that we do not collect extra deposits when growth is challenged. The increase in deposits came mainly from CASA deposits, ”said Chadda.
Regarding assets, he said there were challenges on the corporate side in terms of margins due to liquidity position. “And, so, most of our growth actually comes from something other than corporate – it’s from retail. Car loans increased by 20% and unsecured personal loans, which have the highest margins, increased by 108%. I think that was the foundation on which we were able to improve our NIM in one year, where there was a lot of liquidity and margin challenges, “he said.