Bandhan Bank net up 47.4% on higher interest income

Private sector lender Bandhan Bank on Wednesday reported a 47.4 per cent growth in its net profit at Rs 488 crore in the quarter ended September, aided by higher growth in interest income.

Its profit after tax stood at Rs 331 crore in the same quarter last year.

"During the quarter, our net interest income grew by 55.6 per cent, which helped in the profitability. Also, our loan growth was 51 per cent and NPA movement was restricted," the bank's managing director and chief executive officer, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, said.

The bank's net interest income for the quarter rose to Rs 1,078 crore, from Rs 693 crore in the year-ago quarter, while its net interest margins stood at 10.9 per cent, compared with 9.3 per cent.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank stood at 1.3 per cent, compared with 1.4 per cent, while net NPAs was at 0.7 per cent, against 0.8 per cent.

Deposits rose by 29.6 per cent to Rs 32,959 crore as on September 30, 2018, compared with Rs 25,442 crore as on September 30, 2017, while total advances increased by 51 per cent to Rs 33,373 crore, from Rs 22,111 crore.

Ghosh said micro credit loans constitutes 87 per cent of the total loan book and the balance is non-micro credit.

"We are happy to continue to grow our micro credit portfolio as we have capacity and expertise," he said.

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restrained the lender from opening new branches and also frozen remuneration of Ghosh for not meeting the licensing conditions.