IndusInd Bank net plunges over 62% in Q4 FY19 on IL&FS provisioning, bad asset quality

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Worsening asset quality pushed down IndusInd Bank's net profit over 62 per cent to Rs 360 crore in the fourth quarter of FY2019 and the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 2.10 per cent of gross advances, while net NPAs rose by 1.21 per cent as on March-end, 2019.

IndusInd Bank's March quarter net profit stood at Rs 360.10 crore. Net profit in the same quarter of 2017-18 financial year was Rs 953.09 crore. The bank's slippages rose in Q4 to Rs 3,688 crore against Rs 806 crore quarter-on-quarter.

The bank said it has made a provision of Rs 1,274 crore for IL&FS and the entire exposure to IL&FS has turned into non-performing assets in Q4. It made additional provisioning of Rs 1,120 crore in Q4.

The bank wants to put the IL&FS nightmare behind in FY19. For the full year, provisions stood at Rs 1,803 crore.

The private sector lender has a total exposure of Rs 3,004 crore to IL&FS Group, of which Rs 2,000 crore is to the holding company and Rs 1,004 crore to operating companies/special purpose vehicles. It has a 70 per cent provisioning for exposure to the holding company and a 25 per cent to the SPVs.

"While the bank witnessed robust growth in its top line as well as in operating profits, aggressive one-time provisioning for IL&FS depressed the bottom line," the bank's MD and CEO Romesh Sobti said.

The bank which merged with Bharat Financials last year said net interest margin should cross 4 per cent. The bank's result was given a thumbs up by the street as its shares rose 4.84 per cent to Rs 1,517.55 a piece.

The bank recommended dividend of Rs 75 per cent per equity share of face value of Rs 10 for the fiscal 2019. IndusInd Bank's NPAs doubled in Q4 as it recognised the full extent of damage from IL&FS.

However, total income for the latest quarter rose to Rs 7,550.43 crore as against Rs 5,858.62 crore in the same period a year ago, the bank said. The Q4 decline dragged down the result for the entire 2018-19, the profit was down over 8 per cent to Rs 3,301 crore as against Rs 3,606 crore in 2017-18.

Total income during the last fiscal rose to Rs 27,907.87 crore from Rs 22,030.85 crore a year ago. The bank's gross non-performing assets rose to 2.10 per cent of gross advances as at March-end 2019 as against 1.17 per cent by the end of the previous fiscal. Net NPAs or bad loans were 1.21 per cent, higher than 0.51 per cent at the end of March 2018.

Sobti said the bank has made a sufficient amount of provisioning for exposure to the IL&FS Group.

"We have good reason to believe and there are indications in the market that there could be 90-100 per cent recovery on this particular exposure," he said. 

Net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.59 per cent as against 3.97 per cent in the year-ago period. Net interest income (NII) grew 11 per cent to Rs 2,232 crore as against Rs 2,008 crore.

Core fee income rose 27 per cent to Rs 1,419 crore from Rs 1,113 crore in the same quarter last year. Gross NPAs stood at 2.10 per cent as against 1.17 per cent, while net NPAs were 1.21 per cent compared to 0.51 per cent.

The bank's special mention accounts-2 (SMA2) exposure was Rs 641 crore as at March-end 2019.