Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank reported a cumulative increase of over 100 percent in bad loans for financial year 2015-16. The provisioning for such loans also doubled, re-affirming the high stress levels in state-run Indian banks.
The cumulative bad loans, or net non-performing assets (NPAs) rose almost 100 percent to Rs. 46,372 crore from Rs. 23,391 crore in 2014-15, based on their regulatory filings on Friday.
The four lenders set aside Rs. 28,324 crore in 2015-16 towards bad loans, a 102 percent surge from Rs. 13,964 crore provided in the previous financial year.
Leading the pack was Bank of Baroda, India's second-largest lender by assets.
The bank's standalone net loss was Rs. 3,230 crore for the March 2016 quarter (Q4), as against a net profit of Rs. 598 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. A 227 percent rise in provisioning for bad loans resulted in the bank's profit taking a hit.
Bank of Baroda provided Rs. 4,880 crore for bad loans during the March 2016 quarter as against Rs. 1,491 crore during the March 2015 quarter, according to a presentation filed by the bank with the stock exchanges on Friday.
The bank had reported a net loss of Rs. 3,342 crore for the December 2015 quarter, the largest quarterly loss by an Indian bank ever. A five-fold rise in provisioning for bad loans to Rs. 6,165 crore resulting in the bank's profit getting eroded substantially.
Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAs stood at Rs. 40,521 crore and Rs. 19,407 crore, respectively, as on March 31, 2016. As a percentage of total advances, gross NPAs and net NPAs were 9.99 percent and 5.06 percent, respectively.
For the full year ended March 2016, Bank of Baroda's net loss was Rs. 5,396 crore despite an operating profit of Rs. 8,816 crore because provisioning for bad loans more than doubled to Rs. 14,211 crore from Rs. 6,517 crore in the previous financial year.
The bank had reported a net profit of Rs. 3,398 crore for 2014-15.
Dena Bank
Mumbai-based Dena Bank posted net loss of Rs. 326 crore for Q4 after reporting a higher loss of Rs. 662.85 crore for the December 2015 quarter. The full-year provisioning for bad loans doubled to Rs. 2,476 crore from Rs. 1,262 crore in the previous year.
Allahabad Bank
Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank's net loss in Q4 widened to Rs. 581 crore from Rs. 486 crore in the previous quarter. The bank provided Rs. 5,255 crore for bad loans in 2015-16.
UCO Bank
Kolkata-based UCO Bank reported a net loss of Rs 1,715 crore for Q4 as compared to a net profit of Rs 209.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Bad loan provisioning stood at Rs. 6,382 crore.
Banks have been reporting lower profit or higher losses in the wake of massive provisioning for bad loans following an asset quality review conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) across the banking sector in December. The apex bank set a deadline of March 2017 for banks to clean up their balance sheets.
