Bank of Baroda (BoB) has posted a surprise loss for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019 as provisions for bad loans surged.

The state-owned lender recorded a standalone loss of Rs 1,407 crore compared with a profit of Rs 471 crore in the same period of last year and Rs 737 crore in the preceding three months. The loss came as provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) and diminution value for restructured accounts jumped to Rs 662 crore from Rs 342 crore in the year-ago period.

There was no improvement in the asset quality front as well with the percentage of gross NPAs to total loans rising to 10.43 per cent from 10.25 per cent on a sequential basis. It was, however, lower than 11.01 per cent in the same period of last year. In absolute terms, the gross NPAs came in at Rs 73,139.70 crore against Rs 69,968.95 crore on a sequential basis.

Slippages or fresh accretion to bad loans also showed a rise to Rs 10,387 crore during the quarter, up from Rs 6,001 crore in the July-September 2019 period. BoB disclosed that of the fresh slippages of Rs 10,387 crore, Rs 4,509 crore was on account of divergence in the bad loans reported by the bank and as assessed by the RBI for the period ended March 31, 2019.

During the period, the bank’s core net interest income — interest earned on loans minus interest paid on deposits — rose 9 per cent to Rs 7,128 crore. Its low cost current and saving account (CASA) deposits showed a growth of 8.81 per cent over the same period last year.