Central Bank returns to black with Rs 310 cr net profit in Q4

NEW DELHI: State-owned Central Bank of India on Monday reported a standalone net profit of Rs 310 crore in quarter ended March 2022, on the back of less provisioning for bad loans.

The lender had posted a net loss of Rs 1,349 crore in the same quarter a year-ago.

Total income during Q4 of FY22 rose to Rs 6,419.58 crore, from Rs 5,729.38 crore in the same period of FY21, Central Bank of India said in a regulatory filing.

For the full fiscal year 202122, the bank witnessed a turnaround and recorded a net profit of Rs 1,045 crore. It had a net loss of Rs 888 crore in 2020-21.

Total income during the year rose to Rs 25,770.13 crore, from Rs 25,845.90 crore in FY21.

The lender improved on its asset quality and brought down the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to 14.84 per cent of the gross advances at the end of March 2022, as against 16.55 per cent in the year-ago period.

Net NPAs or bad loans fell to 3.97 per cent, from 5.77 per cent.

Fall in bad loan proportions significantly reduced to Rs 1,061 crore for Q4FY22, as against Rs 3,080 crore put aside for the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the provisioning for contingencies reduced to Rs 3,480 crore, from Rs 5,902 crore.

The bank’s total business increased to Rs 5,32,404 crore, from Rs 5,06,886 crore registering a growth of 5.03 per cent year-on-year, it said.

Total deposits have increased by Rs 12,719 crore and stood at Rs 3,42,692 crore as on March 31, 2022, as compared to Rs 3,29,973 crore, reflecting an increase of 3.85 per cent, said the lender.

Credit cost for FY22 improved from 2.95 per cent to 1.41 per cent, registering an improvement of 154 basis points (bps) yera-on-year.