BoM Q3 net up 14% to Rs 154 cr helped by improved asset quality and higher interest income

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on Tuesday reported 13.91% year-on-year growth in net profit for the quarter ended December 2020 to Rs 154 crore. The rise in net profit was driven by 10.12% y-o-y growth in net interest income to Rs 1,306 crore coupled with net interest margin (NIM) improving to 3.06%. BoM MD & CEO AS Rajeev said it was for the first time in four years that the bank had crossed the NIM of 3%.

The bank’s gross NPAs as on December 31, 2020, were 7.69% against 16.77% on December 31, 2019, while net NPAs reduced to 2.59% in the quarter under review against 5.46% in the same period last year. The bank has made a cumulative Covid-19 provision of Rs 955 crore. According to the Supreme Court order, the bank has not classified these accounts as NPAs but had made additional provision of Rs 150 crore, of which Rs 30 crore was in the third quarter.

Its cost to income ratio had gone down slightly and this was mainly because of a one-time expenditure of Rs 230 crore on wage arrears payable to retired employees and retirement benefits contribution, which was completely absorbed in the December quarter, the MD said.

Rajeev said the bank’s CASA deposits improved by 300 basis points to 50.91%, while provision coverage ratio improved to 90%. There was 22% growth in the retail, agriculture and MSME advances during the quarter. BoM’s retail advances grew 28.89% to Rs 27,540 crore while MSME advances were up 26.31% to Rs 20,304 crore during the quarter under review. According to the MD, this was not just pent up demand or festival sales. The bank expects growth in retail loans to continue in the fourth quarter of FY21 and even improve further. Banks have benefitted from the withdrawal of NBFC from the market, Rajeev said. This has helped in retail growth, so compared to 16%-18% growth last fiscal year, they had seen 26% to 28% growth in the retail loans this year, he added. He expects the NBFCs to bounce bank once the Covid situation is over, but this window of opportunity is available to the banks for another five to six months, he said.

In addition to growth in retail demand, investment in infrastructure and new projects had started pouring in, adding to the optimism, he said. With the government’s PLI scheme, the BoM MD expects a 2-3% increase in the share of corporate loans. Corporate loans now account for 40% of the bank’s advances.

The BoM board has already approved capital raising plans with Rs 2,000 crore to be raised through bonds and Rs 1,000 crore through equity, Rajeev said. During Q4FY21, the bank would look at raising either Tier -I or Tier-II capital of Rs 500 crore through bonds to be utilised next year, he said. They will look at raising equity next year, depending on the situation.

The bank’s total business increased 13.15 % to Rs 2,66,875 crore with total deposits increasing 14.08% to Rs 1,61,971 crore and gross advances were up 11.74 % to Rs 1,04,904 crore. The bank’s net revenues in Q2FY21 grew 15% on y-o-y basis to Rs 1,572 crore.