After posting losses for 13 straight quarters, IDBI Bank on Saturday reported a net profit of Rs 135 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, on account of recoveries from bad loans.

The lender, in which Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) holds a 51 per cent stake, recorded a standalone profit of Rs 135.39 crore compared with a loss of Rs 4,918.44 crore in the same period of the previous year and a loss of Rs 5,763.04 crore in the preceding three months.

During the period, the lender’s asset quality improved with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in absolute terms falling to Rs 47,272.37 crore from Rs 49,502.68 crore on a sequential basis. The percentage of gross NPAs fell to 27.53 per cent against 28.72 per cent during the same period a year ago.

Provisions during the quarter were lower at Rs 1,584.14 crore over Rs 8,532.78 crore in the year-ago period.

IDBI Bank added that during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, it made an additional provision of Rs 431.05 crore over and above the regulatory norms for certain borrower accounts given the inherent risk and uncertainty of recovery in these accounts.

The lender added that during the quarter it has made Covid-19 related provisions of Rs 247 crore against standard assets.

The core net interest income (NII) improved 46 per cent to Rs 2,356 crore against Rs 1,609 crore for the same period of the previous fiscal.

IDBI Bank added that the share of its low cost current and saving accounts (CASA) deposits in the total deposits improved to 47.74 per cent as on March 31, 2020 against 42.54 per cent as on March 31, 2019.