IndusInd Bank Q4 Profit Down 16%

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank registered a 16.17 per cent drop in its net profit in the fourth quarter of last fiscal at ₹301.84 crore as against ₹360.10 crore a year ago.

For 2019-20, the bank’s net profit surged by 33.8 per cent to ₹4,417.91 crore as against ₹3,301 crore in 2018-19.

The bank has made a counter cyclical buffer or floating provision of ₹260 crore for Covid-19 pandemic.

“Based on stress tests, we are expecting moderate to medium stress in a scenario where 50 per cent of the economy opens up on May 3, balance 25 per cent by the first week of June, and the remaining 25 per cent by the first week of July. Nobody can predict exactly what will happen,” said IndusInd Bank Managing Director and CEO Sumant Kathpalia in a media call, adding that he expects rural economy to recover faster after the lockdown.

The bank has slowed down on unsecured business, he further said, adding that the objective is to protect the portfolio.

On the corporate side, it will look to granularise the book and will moderate group exposures as well as exposure to sectors like commercial real estate and NBFCs. It expects corporate loan growth of 6-8 per cent and is hopeful that its deposits will bounce back, Kathpalia said.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2020, IndusInd Bank reported a 21.30 per cent increase in its total income to Rs 9,158.57 crore as against ₹7,550.43 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total provisions surged by 56.4 per cent to ₹2,440.32 crore for the fourth quarter last fiscal compared to ₹1,560.69 crore in the same period a year ago.

Gross non-performing assets rose to ₹5,146.74 crore or 2.45 per cent of gross advances as on March 31, 2020 from 2.1 per cent a year ago.

Net NPAs were lower at 0.91 per cent of net advances as on March 31, 2020 from 1.21 per cent a year ago.

The bank’s scrip gained 6.33 per cent and closed at ₹ 407.35 apiece on BSE.