Bandhan Bank has reported a 120.85 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 731 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019. The private sector lender had registered a net profit of Rs 331 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Net interest income of the bank increased 37.10 per cent to Rs 1,541 crore during the quarter against Rs 1,124 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Gross non-performing assets of the bank during the quarter stood at 1.93 per cent of the assets lower than 2.41 per cent in the year ago period. However, sequentially, there has been a marginal increase in the October-December quarter from 1.76 per cent in the July-September quarter of the ongoing fiscal. The bank attributed this to the change in recognition norms after the merger of Gruh Finance with itself.

The bank’s managing director and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said an additional provision of Rs 200 crore had been made during the quarter on standard advances in the microfinance portfolio after evaluating the risks to the portfolio in the northeast.

Overleverage issues, particularly in Assam, as well as natural calamity such as floods have affected the repayment of loan in the microfinance industry. Around 16.4 per cent of the microfinance portfolio of Bandhan is in Assam with a book size of Rs 6,586 crore.

“The third quarter has been satisfying given the challenges faced during the quarter. We have witnessed a strong customer growth on advances and deposit growth has been highest over the last four quarters. We have been conservative and I feel that in the last quarter when most of the business happens, we would be able to further improve the results,” Ghosh said.