Mumbai: Lakshmi Vilas Bank’s net profit fell 83% to Rs 11 crore in the quarter ended September 2017 from Rs 65 crore a year ago largely helped by an income tax write back even as provisions on non performing assets (NPAs) rose.

The bank booked a Rs 19 crore tax write back in the quarter without which it would have slipped into a loss this quarter. The bank blamed the “prevailing difficult environment” for the drop in profit.

Provisions increased three times to Rs 187 crore from Rs 63 crore a year ago and also higher than the Rs 112 crore reported in the quarter ended June 2017 as the bank’s NPAs rose. Net NPAs more than doubled to 4.33% from 1.87% a year ago.

Lakshmi Vilas bank said that almost all the loans were slippages from the watch list accounts which the bank had identified at the end of the first quarter of this year. “At the end of Q1FY18, Bank had identified a “watch list” of accounts amounting to Rs 2200/2300 crores. The slippages during the quarter were almost entirely from the ‘watch list’ accounts and the same is also reflected in the provisions. Consequent upon the slippages during the quarter, the ‘watch list’ now stands at around Rs.1700 crore,” the bank said in a release.

Total interest income increased 8% to Rs 613 crore from Rs 565 crore a year earlier. Other income dropped 6% to Rs 124 crore from Rs 132 crore a year ago. The bank’s shares dropped 3.95% to Rs 140.95 per share on the BSE, even as the 30-share Sensex fell 0.28% on Wednesday.