State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) Q1 Result, Reported loss

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) has reported loss of Rs.221.56 crore in the fiscal first quarter because of higher provisions.

The state-run bank reported a net profit of Rs.270.62 crore in the year-ago quarter. The loss was restricted because of a tax write back of Rs.118.16 crore in the quarter ended 30 June compared with a tax expenses of Rs.142.23 crore a year ago.

This is the first time since June 1997 the bank has reported a quarterly loss, according to Capitaline data.

In December, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducted an asset quality review across the banking sector, following which the banks were asked to recognize visibly stressed assets as non-performing assets (NPAs). RBI also asked banks to make adequate provisions for the stressed assets. This has hit the profitability of some banks.

Gross NPAs at SBBJ rose 27.5% to Rs.4,592.87 crore at the end of the June quarter from Rs.3,602.76 crore in the March quarter. On a year-on-year basis, gross NPAs jumped 46.6% from Rs.3,133.39 crore. As a percentage of total loans, gross NPAs stood at 6.2% at the end of the June quarter as compared to 4.82% in the previous quarter and 4.45% in the year-ago quarter.

Provisions and contingencies jumped more than threefold to Rs.995.09 crore in the quarter from Rs.323.65 crore a quarter ago.

On year-on-year basis, provisions jumped more than fourfold from Rs.212.94 crore. Net NPAs were at 3.65% in the June quarter compared to 2.75% in the previous quarter and 4.45% in the same quarter last year.

Net interest income (NII), or the core income a bank earns by giving loans, increased 5.9% to Rs.569.82 crore in the June quarter from Rs.821.39 crore last year.

Other income increased 28% to Rs.324.76 crore from Rs.253.68 crore in the same period last year.