Feb 13 2024, 07:08
NPA provisioning for banks falls for the eighth consecutive quarter:
Banks continued to show a year-on- year drop in the aggregate loan loss provisioning in the December quarter for the eighth consecutive period amid improving asset quality led by public sector banks (PSBS). For a sample of 29 banks, provisions for the nonperforming assets (NPAS) fell by 11.5% to Rs 20,264.3 crore.
After peaking at Rs 65,986.9 crore in the March 2021 quarter, these provisions have gradually cooled off since then. In the March 2023 quarter, they had dropped to Rs 17,956 crore, the lowest in five years.
In the sample, three out of every five banks or 18 banks to be precise, reported a year-on- year fall in NPA provisioning. For PSBs, the NPA provisions fell by 21% year-on-year to Rs 12,080 crore, the lowest quarterly level in at least five years. PSBs have shown a remarkable improvement on the asset quality front. The previous lowest provisioning by PSBs was in the March 2023 quarter at Rs 15,257 crore.
The private sector banks, on the other hand, reported 7.4% year-on-year increase in the loan loss provisioning at Rs 8,184 crore for the December quarter. Among the top private sector banks, NPA provisioning of Kotak Mahindra Bank more than doubled to Rs 324 crore.
The pre-provisioning operating profit (PPOP) jumped by 31.2% to a record Rs 1.6 lakh crore. A sustained double-digit growth in credit offtake augurs well for the lenders. According to a CareEdge report, credit offtake grew by 16.1% excluding the effect of the merger between HDFC Bank and HDFC in the first fortnight of January 2024.
source: et
Feb 13 2024, 07:08