Central Bank net soars 90% to Rs 605 crore on asset quality improvement

A massive improvement in asset quality has helped state-run lender Central Bank of India record its best-ever quarterly profit in July-September at Rs 605 crore, nearly double than the trailing 12-month period. The city-headquartered bank said its net income jumped 90.25 per cent on-year from Rs 318 crore a year ago.

The earnings were supported by a 505 bps improvement in gross NPAs which printed in at 4.62 per cent in the reporting quarter from 9.67 per cent in Q2FY23, while net NPAs nearly halved to 1.64 per cent from 2.95 per cent, registering an improvement of 131 bps.

The provision coverage ratio too improved to 92.54 from 89.20, registering an improvement of 334 bps, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

Its total business crossed the Rs 6-lakh-crore mark to Rs 6,02,284 crore, a growth of 11.51 per cent from Rs 5,40,130 crore in Q2FY23.

Of this, deposits rose 8.21 per cent to Rs 3,71,252 crore, while gorss advance jumped 17.26 per cent to Rs 2,31,032 crore, from Rs 1,97,022 crore, taking its credit to deposit ratio to 62.43 from 57.64.

Net advance rose by a higher 22.17 per cent to Rs 2,24,030 crore, from Rs 1,83,369 crore. Of this retail, agriculture and MSME book grew 14.24 per cent and the individual sector grew 15.19 per cent to Rs 66,133 crore from Rs 57,411 crore.

The net interest income increased 10.23 per cent to Rs 3,028 crore on-year, from Rs 2,747 crore, but the key profitability gauge net interest margin was flat at 3.43 per cent leading to a marginal fall in operating income which was also impacted by higher staff expenses.

The total income of the bank grew 19.07 per cent to Rs 8,412 crore from Rs 7,065 crore.

The core capital of the bank improved to 14.82 per cent as against 13.56 per cent.

The bank grew its branch network to 4,489 of which 65.22 per cent or 2,928 are in rural areas.