Bank Of Baroda Posts First Loss In Two Years As Provisions Nearly Triple

Bank of Baroda Ltd. reported a higher-than-expected loss in the quarter ended March as bad loans continued to rise and provisions nearly tripled.

The lender’s net loss stood at Rs 3,102 crore compared to a profit of Rs 154.72 crore a year ago, according to its stock exchange filing. The consensus of analyst estimates tracked by Bloomberg had projected a Rs 28-crore loss.

Bad loans rose to 12.26 percent of total assets from 11.3 percent in the previous quarter. The absolute value of non-performing assets too increased 16.5 percent sequentially to Rs 56,480 crore. The net non-performing asset ratio rose about 50 basis points to 5.49 percent. Provisions for bad loans surged nearly threefold to Rs 7,052.5 crore from Rs 2,425 crore a year ago.

• Net interest income rose 11.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 11.7 crore.
• The lender reported a gross NPA divergence of Rs 2,918 crore in financial year 2017.
• Capital aduequacy ratio improved sequentially to 12.13 percent, but was lower than the 12.24 percent in the same quarter last year.
• Annualised return on assets turned negative at -1.77 percent from 0.07 percent in the previous quarter

Bank of Baroda's stock closed 1.76 percent higher ahead of the earnings announcements. The stock had fallen 11.4 percent in the January-March period compared to a 5 percent decline in the Nifty Bank index.