Central Bank of India Q3 Results: Other income aids profit, sharp drop in margins

Shares of state-run Central Bank of India Ltd. gained as much as 3.6% on Friday, January 16, in response to its December quarter results.

Net Interest Income for the quarter declined by 1% from last year to ₹3,503 crore from ₹3,540 crore earlier.

Net profit for the quarter increased by 31.6% from last year to ₹1,262 crore from ₹959 crore earlier. Profitability for the quarter was aided by a higher other income, which increased to ₹1,935 crore at the end of the December quarter, from ₹1,229 crore during the same quarter last year.

Central Bank of India's asset quality improved from the previous quarter, with Gross NPA at 2.7% from 3.01% in the September quarter, while Net NPAs stood at 0.45% from 0.48% in the previous quarter.

In absolute terms, Gross NPA stood at ₹8,726 crore from ₹8,827 crore, while Net NPA saw a marginal increase to ₹1,413 crore from ₹1,366 crore in the September quarter.

Gross advances for the quarter increased by 19.48% from the same quarter last year to ₹3.23 lakh crore, while total deposits increased by 13.24% from last year to ₹4.5 lakh crore.

There was a sharp contraction in the lender's Net Interest Margin (NIMs), which declined to 2.96% at the end of the December quarter, a drop of 49 basis points from 3.45% during the same quarter last year.

Slippages for the quarter declined to ₹658 crore from ₹733 crore during the July-September period.

Shares of Central Bank of India are off the highs of the day after the earnings announcement, currently trading 1.7% higher at ₹38.94. The bank is one of those few PSU lenders where the government shareholding is in excess of 90%.