Allahabad Bank posts net profit in Q1 at Rs 29 crore

Allahabad Bank clocked a net profit of Rs 28.84 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal as against a loss of Rs 564.96 crore in the previous similar period.

MD and CEO of Allahabad Bank, Usha Ananthasubramaniam said that operating profit of the bank increased 21 per cent at Rs 1170 crore as compared to Rs 967.44 crore during the previous similar quarter.

The bank, she said, had been able to bring down the cost of deposits by increasing the percentage of CASA in the overall deposit base.

"We are shedding bulk deposits in a big way and that is helping us to reduce the cost of funds," she told reporters here today.

Total business of the bank stood at Rs 3.53 lakh crore, out of which overseas operations contributed Rs 14,444 crore, she said.

During the quarter, fresh slippages were Rs 2004 crore and and provisioning made was Rs 1141 crore.

Gross NPA and net NPA of the bank stood respectively at 13.85 per cent and 8.96 per cent, she said.

Net interest margin (NIM) of the bank stood at 2.35 per cent during the quarter, lower that 2.69 per cent in the previous similar period.

"Given the market conditions, NIM of 2.35 per cent can be considered to be stable", she said.

To fund growth, the bank's board had approved for raising Rs 2000 crore capital during the year.

"Raising funds when and how much will very much depend on the market conditions", she said.

She said that bank would focus on agri, MSME and retail loans to boost growth.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)