State-run Bank of India on Thursday said that change in asset composition helped the lender post profit of Rs 251.79 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2019 owing to the reduction of bad loans.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Dinabandhu Mohapatra, managing director and chief executive officer, said, "Bank of India has been progressively improving quarter-on-quarter. Even during challenging times, domestic growth has been 12 percent, even when under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework."

"Bank of India has reduced international exposure, where the bank has very little spreads. We have increased domestic exposure in the right area by avoiding stress areas and have entered the low-risk area. We have also increased high rated assets. As a result, our interest income has gone up significantly. Domestic net interest margins (NIMs) have improved by more than three percent and that is the reason for us to post profits. This will be maintained in future as well," Mohapatra said.

"For all the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) cases, the bank has provided 100 per cent and now write back is visible, that will further aid profitability and we will be in a strong position going forward," he said.

With regards to asset quality, Mohapatra said, "Some accounts were waiting for resolution and once there is a resolution, then there will be a significant reduction. However, without waiting for the resolution, we have gone aggressively for asset sales in the asset reconstruction company

(ARC) framework and we have been successful in that. In our bank, we have also gone for board approved non-discriminatory and non-discretionary one-time settlement (OTS) policy, so down the line, people can take a call."