KOCHI: The strong performance of South Indian Bank’s corporate banking and treasury divisions has driven the bank to achieve an 18.15 per cent year-on-year growth in Q2 net profit, reaching Rs324.69 crore.
This also marks a sequential growth of 10.40 per cent over the previous quarter. The solid results highlight the bank’s improved focus on key revenue-generating segments, leading to robust profitability despite challenging market conditions.
The bank’s treasury division posted a robust turnaround, achieving a pre-tax income of Rs77.51 crore compared with a loss of Rs9.54 crore in the same period last year.
Similarly, the corporate division, previously weighed down by substantial bad loans, recorded a significant pre-tax income growth to Rs115.55 crore, up from Rs47.48 crore in the previous year.
Retail subdued
In contrast, the retail banking division, which had traditionally been the bank’s stronghold, saw its pre-tax income drop sharply to Rs169.85 crore, down from Rs345.85 crore a year ago. “This shift marks a changing dynamic in the bank’s performance, as treasury and corporate segments now show resilience, while the retail banking arm faces pressure,” said a banking analyst while talking to businessbenchmark.news.
SIB management could successfully rein in bad loans portfolio, which has long been the bank’s Achilles heel. While the gross NPA reduced from 4.96 per cent to 4.40 per cent year on year, the net NPA fell from 1.70 per cent to 1.31 per cent during the said period.
Advances & deposits
Gross advances grew by Rs9,767 crore from Rs74,947 to Rs 84,714 crore, showing an increase of 13.03 per cent year on year basis. The retail deposit grew by Rs8,204 crore from Rs 93,448 crore to Rs1,01,652 crore, showing an increase of 8.78 per cent year on year.
The NRI deposit grew by Rs1,703 crore from Rs28,785 crore to Rs30,488 crore, representing an increase of 5.92 per centon year on year basis.
CEO says….
P R Seshadri, MD & CEO of the bank, stated that the strategy adopted by the bank continues to enable the business performance. He added that during the period, SIB registered growth in all the desired segments with a focus on quality asset across all verticals – Corporate, Housing loan, Auto Loan, Personal Loan, Gold Loan etc.
He also stated that, in line with the strategic intent of the bank viz, “Profitability through quality credit growth”, the bank could onboard fresh advances with low risk profile.