Karnataka Bank's Q1 net profit surges 22% to Rs 163 crore; net NPAs stand at 2.92%, down from 3.20%

New Delhi: Private sector lender Karnataka Bank on Thursday posted a 21.9 percent rise in net profit to Rs 163.24 crore for the first quarter this fiscal. The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 133.85 crore in the April-June quarter of 2017-18. The total income of the bank increased to Rs 1,616.44 crore as against Rs 1,547.93 crore a year ago, it said in a regulatory filing. [caption id=“attachment_4402343” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In terms of asset quality, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans rose to 4.72 percent of gross loans as on 30 June, 2018 from 4.34 percent in the year-ago period. As a result, provisions other than tax and contingencies increased to Rs 222.06 crore for the June quarter of 2018-19 from Rs 198.88 crore. However, net NPAs stood at 2.92 percent, down from 3.20 percent. RBI last month granted banks, the option to spread provisioning for their mark to market (MTM) losses on all investments held in Available for Sale (AFS) and Held to Maturity (HFT) for the quarter ending 30 June, 2018 equally over up to four quarters, commencing with the quarter ending 30 June, 2018, it said. Accordingly, bank utilising the dispensation, made provisions to the tune of Rs 13.41 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, 2018 and deferred an amount of Rs 40.22 crore, which will be spread equally over the remaining three quarters, it added.