Mumbai: Jana Small Finance Bank reported a sharp fall in profit for the December quarter. Net profit dropped 91.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 9.7 crore, compared to Rs 110.6 crore in the same quarter last year.
The bank said profit was lower mainly due to higher credit provisioning, which means the bank kept more money aside to cover possible loan losses. The results were below market expectations.
Core Income Remains Strong
Despite weak profit, the bank’s core earnings stayed strong. Net Interest Income (NII), which is the difference between interest earned and interest paid, grew 13.8 percent year-on-year.
NII increased from Rs 593 crore to Rs 675 crore, showing stable lending growth and steady core banking performance.
Asset Quality Shows Improvement
The bank showed improvement in asset quality on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
Gross NPA declined to 2.59 percent from 2.87 percent in the previous quarter. Net NPA remained stable at 0.94 percent. This shows the bank is managing bad loans better and controlling fresh stress in its loan book.
Deposits See Strong Growth
Total deposits grew strongly, rising 30 percent year-on-year to Rs 33,733 crore. Strong deposit growth helps banks reduce funding costs and supports future loan growth.
Management Commentary And Outlook
MD and CEO Ajay Kanwal said higher provisioning impacted profit this quarter. He added that the bank expects credit costs to reduce from Q4 as bad loan additions slow.
The bank is also being cautious in unsecured lending and is covering new loans under guarantee programs. From FY27, the bank expects to claim benefits from these programs, which may improve return on assets by 50–70 basis points.
Business Position
Jana Small Finance Bank is headquartered in Bengaluru and is the fourth largest small finance bank in India.
The stock reacted positively, rising 2.28 percent to close at Rs 354 on Friday, showing investor confidence in long-term growth.
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