Indian Bank Q2 net profit rises 15 pc to Rs 412 cr

State-owned Indian Bank on Thursday reported a 15 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 412.28 crore for the second quarter ended September, despite increase in provisions for bad loans. The bank's net profit in July-September quarter of 2019-20 stood at Rs 358.56 crore.

The results are not strictly comparable with that of previous year's as Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank merged with Indian Bank on April 1, 2020. Indian Bank's total income rose to Rs 11,669.11 crore during September quarter this year from Rs 6,045.32 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing.

On asset quality front, gross non-performing assets (NPA) rose to 9.89 per cent of gross advances at the end of September 2020 from 7.20 per cent a year ago. However, net NPA declined to 2.96 per cent of the advances at the end of second quarter of this fiscal from 3.54 per cent a year ago.

The bank's provisioning for bad loans and contingencies rose to Rs 2,284.11 crore during July-September quarter from Rs 909.36 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Provisioning for bad loans alone doubled to Rs 1,880.19 crore at the end of September 2020 from Rs 720.90 crore a year ago.

Provision coverage ratio rose to 84.39 per cent as on September 30, 2020. The Chennai-based lender said the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the bank's results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain.

Indian Bank's capital and liquidity position is strong and would continue to be the focus area, it said.