Dena Bank Q4 net loss widens to ₹1,225 cr
State-owned Dena Bank on Friday reported widening of its net loss to ₹1,225.42 crore in the March quarter on mounting bad loans and higher provisioning to cover them.
The net loss was ₹575.26 crore in the January-March quarter of 2016-17. Sequentially, the loss widened from ₹380.07 crore in December of 2017-18.
The bank reported loss on annual basis as well, the third year in a row due to ballooning non- performing assets (NPAs).
For the entire fiscal, 2017-18, the bank has posted a net loss of ₹1,923.15 crore. In 2016-17, it had reported a net loss of ₹863.63 crore; in 2015-16, it ₹935.32 crore. It had clocked a net profit of ₹265.48 crore in 2014-15.
Dena Bank’s total income in the fourth quarter of last fiscal also came down to ₹2,390.68 crore from ₹2,612.08 crore in the year-ago period.
Its interest income was down at ₹2,067.38 crore, as against ₹2,297.11 crore. Income for the full fiscal also fell to ₹10,095.75 crore, as against ₹11,433.07 crore in 2016-17, the bank said in a regulatory filing.
The interest income of the bank also fell during the year to ₹8,932.23 crore, from ₹10,181.67 crore a year ago.
The public sector lender said that its board of directors has not recommended any dividend for 2017-18.
Bank’s asset quality has worsened with the gross NPAs hitting a high of 22.4% of the gross advances as on March 31, 2018, from 16.27% as of end-March 2017.
In value terms, the gross NPAs or bad loans rose to ₹16,361.44 crore from ₹12,618.73 crore. Net NPAs were also up at 11.95 per cent (₹7,838.78 crore) from 10.66% (₹7,735.12 crore). Thus,
the bank parked aside ₹2,150.60 crore as provisioning for bad loans for the March quarter, as against ₹878.18 crore in the year-ago period.
For entire fiscal, the provisioning for bad assets rose to ₹4,281.80 crore, as against ₹2,457.75 crore.
Provision coverage ratio stood at 60.20% as on March 31, 2018. Dena Bank stock closed 0.54% down at ₹18.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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