Indian Overseas Bank's Q2 net loss narrows at Rs 487 cr on lower provisions; gross NPAs rise to 24.73%

New Delhi: State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Friday reported narrowing of its net loss to Rs 487.26 crore in the second quarter ended September 2018 on lower provisioning. The bank had registered a net loss of Rs 1,222.50 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially also, its net loss narrowed from Rs 919.44 crore in the first quarter ended June of the current fiscal. “Net loss is due to provisions on bad debts and investment and not due to operations,” the bank said in a release. Total income fell to Rs 5,348.35 crore during July-September 2018-19 from Rs 5,610.35 crore in same period a year ago, IOB said in a regulatory filing. Bank’s asset quality deteriorated with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 24.73 percent of gross loans by the end of the second quarter as against 22.73 percent as on end-September 2017. Though it was down when compared sequentially from 25.64 percent at end-June. [caption id=“attachment_4496675” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Net NPAs also rose year-on-year to 14.34 percent from 13.86 percent, sequentially down from 15.10 percent. In absolute terms, gross NPAs were Rs 37,109.96 crore as on 30 September, 2018 from Rs 34,708.59 crore by September 2017. Net NPAs or bad loans were Rs 18,876.05 crore as against Rs 18,949.55 crore. Provisions for bad loans and contingencies came down to Rs 2,016.60 crore for the reported quarter from Rs 2,238.09 crore. IOB said it received government capital infusion of Rs 2,157 crore on 23 July against preferential allotment of equity shares and has added the same as tier I equity capital. The provision coverage ratio of the bank as on 30 September stood at 61.97 percent. Deposits as on 30 September, 2018 stood at Rs 2.23 lakh crore and advances were Rs 1.50 lakh crore. Total business registered an increase of 3.12 percent and stood at Rs 3.73 lakh crore by the end of September 2018 against Rs 3.62 lakh crore as on June 30, 2018. IOB said its total recovery registered an increase of 12.53 percent to Rs 4,462 crore for quarter ended September as against the recovery of Rs 3,965 crore a year ago. The total fresh slippage for quarter ended stood at Rs 884 crore from slippage of Rs 2,693 crore a year ago. “Recovery achieved is substantially higher than slippages during the quarter mainly due to focused efforts towards recovery and containment of NPAs (fresh slippage and other debits in existing NPA accounts),” it said. Further, the bank has recovered Rs 247 crore in six NCLT accounts during the September quarter and expects further recovery aggregating Rs 802 crore in the third quarter in two NCLT accounts where resolution is at an advanced stage. Stock of IOB closed 6.95 percent up at Rs 14 apiece on the BSE.