Ujjivan Small Finance Bank on Thursday reported a more than two-fold jump in its March quarter net profit to Rs 309.50 crore, helped by higher core income and a write-back in provisions. The Bengaluru-headquartered lender posted a net profit of Rs 1,099 crore for FY23 as against a loss of Rs 414 crore in the year-ago period.

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For the reporting quarter, its core net interest income grew 36 percent to Rs 738 crore on a 33 percent increase in the loan book, and limited by a 0.85 percent narrowing in the net interest margin.

The other income increased to Rs 179 crore from Rs 149 crore in the year-ago period. Its managing director and chief executive Ittira Davis said the lender is targeting to decrease the proportion of micro loans from the present 71 percent, and the 5-6 percentage point dip will lead to further crimping in the net interest margins to 9 percent in FY24.

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On the asset quality front, it showed an improvement with the gross non-performing assets ratio coming down to 2.88 percent from 3.64 percent three months ago.

Davis said the collection efficiencies have also improved across the 25 states that it operates in, and there are no pockets of concern on this front.

It is also targeting to increase the share of the low-cost current and saving account deposits to over 30 percent from the present 26 percent, he said.

The bank will open 100 more branches will be nearly double of the 52 opened in FY23, and will be entering Andhra Pradesh as well, he said.

It expects a go-ahead on its proposed reverse merger by the end of the year, Davis said, adding that it will be seeking a universal bank license after that as it will also be completing five years of operations by then.

In FY24, it will pay more focus on the newly launched vehicle loans and gold loans segment, Davis said, adding that the bank will also relaunch the small business lending segment.

According to the management, the bank's net interest margin (NIM) is expected to be around 9.1 percent in the first half of FY24.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Davis said, “We expect NIM to be around the fourth quarter levels into the first half of the new financial year. But based on an expectation that the interest rate cycle will change towards the second half, we can see NIM beginning to grow.”

Moreover, Davis is optimistic about the loan growth prospects for FY24, which he believes will be at the same pace as that of FY23.

The Ujjivan scrip closed 0.86 percent up at Rs 29.25 a piece on the BSE on Thursday, as against a 0.06 percent correction on the benchmark.

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-With inputs from agency

First Published:May 11, 2023 11:24 PM IST