State PSU Canara Bank Q2, 2015-16 Net Down 16 Percent

State-run Canara Bank has posted Rs.529 crore net profit for the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal (2015-16), registering a 16 percent decline from Rs.629 crore in the like period a year ago.

In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the city-based bank said, sequentially, however, net profit increased 10 percent from Rs.479 crore in the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and expended, grew 11.7 per cent to ₹2,646 crore (₹2,367 crore in the year-ago quarter). Operating profit rose 19 per cent to ₹1,944.10 crore (₹1,625.54 crore).

The bank made a 49 per cent increase in provisioning at ₹1,212.31 crore (₹813.70 crore). Gross net performing assets (NPAs) for the quarter rose 54 per cent to ₹14,021.34 crore (₹9,164.26 crore). Net NPAs were up 31 per cent at ₹9,382.53 crore (₹7,170.30 crore). Gross NPAs as percentage of advances stood at 4.27 per cent, while net NPAs were higher at 2.90 per cent.

Fresh slippages stood at around ₹2,000 crore during the quarter. “We have been able to control fresh slippages and have strengthened the provision coverage ratio (PCR) to 59.8 per cent,” said Rakesh Sharma, MD and CEO, Canara Bank. The bank has strengthened the recovery process and aims to bring down the GNPAs to less than 4 per cent by March 2016, Sharma adds.