Bandhan Bank net profit jumps 68% to Rs 651 crore in March quarter on account of healthy core income

New Delhi: Private sector Bandhan Bank Thursday posted a jump of 68 percent in its net profit to Rs 650.87 crore in the fourth quarter ended March, on account of healthy core income. The lender had registered a net profit of Rs 387.86 crore in the January-March quarter of the previous financial year. Its total income rose to Rs 2,220.51 crore, compared with Rs 1,553.97 crore in year ago same period, the bank said in a regulatory filing. Net interest income (Nll) for the quarter grew 45.60 percent to Rs 1,258 crore as against Rs 864 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. [caption id=“attachment_4448051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Non-interest income grew by 91.13 percent to Rs 388 crore for the quarter ended March 2019, against Rs 203 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The bank witnessed spike in its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to 2.04 percent of the gross loans as on 31 March, 2019, from 1.25 percent by end-March 2018. However, the net NPAs or bad loans came remained flat at 0.58 percent. Bandhan Bank said the board of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per share, subject to shareholders approval. “The year 2018-19 has been a challenging year for the banking industry. We closed the financial year on a positive note with visibility of growth and improvement in asset quality and liability profile,” said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, managing director and chief executive officer, Bandhan Bank. Shares of the bank were trading 5.43 percent higher at Rs 630.45 apiece on the BSE.