KOCHI: The Thrissur-headquartered South Indian Bank (SIB) has reported its highest-ever quarterly net profit of Rs341.87 crore for the third quarter (Q3) ending December 31, 2024 representing a growth of 11.96 per cent against the same period last year.
However, the net profit this time was just 5.3 per cent higher than that logged by the bank for the immediately preceding quarter that ended on September 30, at Rs324.69 crore.
Operating profit for the quarter under review at Rs528.84 crore was higher by 9.39 per cent compared with Rs483.45 crore the bank earned for the same period last year.
NPA still stays sticky
Gross NPA of the bank still continues to be a headache for the bank as it stayed at Rs3,735.56 crore as of December 31, 2024 though a slight drop was witnessed on the percentage front, from 4.7 per cent to 4.3 per cent, year-on-year.
The management’s meticulous provisioning strategy has reflected in its net NPA, which has dropped to a decent level of 1.25 per cent, from 1.61 per cent a year ago.
The net interest income (NII), a key measure for any bank, went up from Rs819.03 crore to Rs869.26 crore, registering a growth of 6.13 per cent year-on-year.
Deposits and advances
While the deposits grew by 6.28 per cent year on year from Rs99,154.66 crore to Rs1,05,386.63 crore, advances for the bank grew at almost twice the rate at 12.02 per cent, from Rs75,339.87 crore to Rs84,396.44 crore.
This has resulted in the bank’s credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) increasing from 75.98 per cent to 80.08 per cent in a year’s time.
Total assets of the bank increased from Rs1,13,514.14 crore to Rs1,20,859.98 crore in the past one year.
The bank that sits on a net worth of Rs9,308.55 crore as on December 31, 2024, highest in its history, currently enjoys a comfortable capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of above 18 per cent.
Retail is the saviour
This time too, the retail banking segment has come to the rescue of the bank by handing out the lion’s share of profit for the bank.
While the bank earned a profit before tax of Rs234.08 crore during the quarter through retail banking, the ‘corporate’ contribution was just Rs122.91 crore.
P R Seshadri, MD & CEO of the bank, while announcing the results, stated that the strategy adopted by SIB continues to enable the business performance.
“During the period, bank 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 added.
He also stated that, in line with the strategic intent of the bank viz, “Profitability through quality credit growth”, the bank succeeded in on-boarding fresh advances with low risk profile.
