DCB Bank Q3 result, Profit up

Private sector lender DCB Bank Ltd on Saturday reported a 25% surge in December quarter net profit at Rs51 crore, driven primarily by a growth in the core interest income.

The lender had reported a post-tax profit of Rs41 crore in the year-ago period. Its net interest income rose 31% to Rs209 crore, while the non-interest income was up Rs36 crore to Rs64 crore during the quarter. The share of low-cost current and savings account balances increased to 25.85% as on 31 December, from the 21.91% three months ago, on the back of a surge in deposits following the government’s demonetisation move.

The surge in deposits, coupled with a massive slowdown in advances (which grew only 2% sequentially) led to a drop in the credit-deposit ratio to 77.41% from 83.33% in the year-ago period. The bank’s net interest margin was down 3.95% as against 3.96% in the year-ago period, primarily due to pressure on yield on advances, managing director and chief executive Murali Natrajan said. He added the bank is confident of sustaining the number but may not bother much if it dips to up to 3.70%.

A sale to an Asset Reconstruction Company(ARC) helped improve the gross non-performing assets ratio to 1.55% from the 1.98% in the year-ago period.

The bank’s provisions rose to Rs31 crore from Rs21 crore, but Natrajan said it also includes money set aside for non-payment of advances up to Rs1 crore. The total capital adequacy ratio for the bank stood at 13.33%, including 11.39% in core tier-I. It opened 20 new branches during the quarter to take the total to 248 branches, as part of a 150-branch addition plan announced earlier.