Private lender Equitas Small Finance Bank on Wednesday said it has recorded its highest-ever quarterly disbursement of Rs 4,797 crore, a growth of 68 percent year-on-year (YoY).

Share Market Live

NSE

The lender reported a 57.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs 170.1 crore for the third quarter that ended December 31, 2022. This is the highest quarterly PAT of the bank.

In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 108.1 crore. A CNBC-TV18 poll had predicted a profit of Rs 145.7 crore for the quarter under review.

Also Read: Muthoot Finance Q3 result: Net profit drops 12.4% to Rs 901.6 crore

Net interest income (NII), which is the difference between the interest income a bank earns from its lending activities and the interest it pays to depositors, rose 19.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 647.5 crore as against Rs 540.8 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal. The poll had predicted NII at Rs 647.4 crore for the quarter under review.

The net interest margin (NIM) stood at 9.01 percent in the third quarter. The cost to income was at 63.95 percent in the third quarter as compared to 66.58 percent in the second quarter, and 64.67 percent in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.

The bank's total deposits grew 31 percent YoY to Rs 23,393 crore. The CASA deposit grew 19 percent YoY to Rs 10,817 crore and the CASA ratio stood at 46 percent as of December 2022. The term deposits grew 43 percent YoY to Rs 12,576 crore and retail term deposits grew 18 percent YoY to Rs 8,270 crore.

Also Read: LIC Housing Finance posts 38% decline in Q3 net profit at Rs 480.3 crore

Net non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, were at 1.82 percent in December 2022, down from 1.97 percent by September 2022. In absolute terms, the gross NPAs of the bank stood at Rs 861.4 crore by the end of the December quarter of this fiscal, lower than Rs 870.3 crore by September 2022. Net NPAs were Rs 423.4 crore as against Rs 430.9 on month-on-month (MoM).

The bank has utilised Rs 36 crore of Covid Restructured Loan (RL) standard provisions during the quarter and continues to hold Rs 60 crore in Standard RL provisions which may be utilised in the following quarters.

P N Vasudevan, managing director and CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank said the effect of COVID on the bank's financials has waned. Many initiatives of the Bank to create a stable, sustainable, and scalable bank have started yielding results and the performance of the third quarter reflects the same.

Also Read: Piramal Enterprises Q3 profit zooms to Rs 3,547 crore on reversal of Income Tax provision