Equitas Small Finance Bank on Thursday reported a 162 per cent jump in its profit after tax to Rs 113 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2021.
The small finance lender had posted a profit after tax of Rs 43 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Its Managing Director and CEO P N Vasudevan said that in the March quarter of 2019-20, the profit was low as the lender had set aside Rs 75 crore as coronavirus-related provisions, which was not the case in the fourth quarter of 2020-21.
Net interest income for the quarter was Rs 449 crore as against Rs 424 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest margins stood at 7.57 per cent.
Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) at 3.59 per cent as compared to 2.72 per cent. Net NPAs stood 1.52 per cent as against 1.67 per cent.
Vasudevan said the increase in GNPA is due to the impact of COVID-19.
He said that with a provision coverage ratio at 58.59 per cent, the bank is well provided for any potential stress.
During the quarter, the bank wrote off Rs 171 crore in the microfinance portfolio.
The loan loss and provision for FY21 was Rs 375 crore as against Rs 247 crore in 2019-20.
As of March 31, 2021, the total capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) stood at 24.18 per cent, with tier-I CRAR of 23.23 per cent and tier-II CRAR at 0.95 per cent.
Advances as of the March 2021 quarter stood at Rs 17,925 crore. It disbursed Rs 2,535 crore in the quarter.
The bank's collection and billing efficiency for March 2021 was at 108.51 per cent and 91.12 per cent, respectively.
The bank's shares on Thursday closed at Rs 54.75 apiece, up 0.92 per cent on the BSE.
