India’s Yes Bank on Saturday reported a near 45% drop in net profit year-on-year for the January-March quarter as provisions for bad loans increased.
Net profit fell to 2.02 billion Indian rupees ($24.63 million) for the reporting quarter from 3.67 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier. Compared with the previous quarter, net profit was three times higher, owing to a low base in the prior period.
Profit was well below the 2.88 billion rupees forecast by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
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Yes Bank’s provisions and contingencies increased to 6.18 billion rupees from 2.71 billion rupees a year earlier.
The lender’s asset quality was mixed. The gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio rose to 2.17% from 2.02% in the December quarter.
The gross NPA ratio was down from 13.93% a year earlier. In December Yes Bank completed the transfer of bad loans worth 480 billion rupees ($5.9 billion) to private equity firm J.C. Flowers in a deal aimed at cleaning up its balance sheet.
The net NPA ratio was 0.83%, down from 1.03% in the prior three months.
Yes Bank’s net interest income, the difference between the interest income from lending and that paid to depositors, rose 15.7% to 21.05 billion rupees. The net interest margin, a key indicator of a bank’s profitability, rose to 2.80% from 2.50% a year earlier.
The private lender’s net advances grew by 12.3% on year, led by retail loans, while deposits rose 10.3%.