Public sector Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has narrowed its net losses to Rs 393.21 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, even as bad loans increased. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 486.20 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal 2017-18.
Total income also fell to Rs 4,729.58 crore in the first quarter of 2018-19 as against Rs 5,214.44 crore in the same period a year earlier, the bank said in a regulatory filing. Interest income for the period also fell to Rs 4,269.24 crore from Rs 4,437.72 crore.
The asset quality of the bank worsened with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) hitting 17.89 per cent of gross advances as on June 30, 2018, from 14.83 per cent as on June 30, 2017. In value terms, gross bad loans were worth Rs 26,141.28 crore by the end of the first quarter of this fiscal, as against Rs 24,409.49 crore by the end of June 2017.
Net NPAs or bad loans, too, jumped to 10.63 per cent of net advances (Rs 14,262.04 crore) from 9.56 per cent (Rs 14,808.92 crore) in the year-ago period. The return on assets (annualised) improved to (-)0.65 per cent as on June 30, 2018 from (-)0.77 per cent in the year-ago period.
Overall provisioning and contingencies for the June quarter were raised to Rs 1,539.46 crore from Rs 1,469.48 crore. However, provisioning for bad loans alone came down to Rs 1,222.51 crore as against Rs 1,591.48 crore parked aside in the year-ago period.
The bank said it was required to make additional provisions in respect of select borrowal accounts covered under the provisioning of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). “Accordingly, the additional provision made in respect of such borrowal accounts during the quarter ended June 30, 2018, is Rs 377.34 crore,” it added.
The provision coverage ratio of the bank as on June 30, 2018, is 64.59 per cent, OBC said. The stock of OBC traded 3.03 per cent down at Rs 71.90 on BSE.