State-owned Bank of India has posted a standalone profit of Rs 250 crore for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 2021 due to lower provisions against bad loans. In the prior-year period, the lender had reported a standalone loss of Rs 3,571 crore.

For the full-fiscal, net profit stood at Rs 2,160 crore compared to a net loss of Rs 2,957 crore a year ago.

The bank’s asset quality improved during the year with the gross net performing asset (NPA) standing at 13.77% versus 14.78% a year ago. Net NPA stood at 3.35% as against 3.88%.

“By March 2022, we will aim to bring down our GNPA ratio by 2-2.5 percentage points to around 12%,” Bank of India managing director and CEO A K Das told reporters.

Net interest income (NII) fell 22.60% to Rs 2,936 crore in the March quarter as against Rs 3,793 crore in the year-ago period.

Domestic net interest margins (NIM) declined to 2.16% from 3.18%.

Das said the lower NIM was due to a fall in yield on advances, which was more than the fall in the bank's cost of deposits, and to muted growth in domestic advances. He expected NIM to improve to 2.5% in FY22.

Recovery during the fourth quarter was Rs 975 crore and upgradation at Rs 109 crore. Fresh slippages were at Rs 7,368 crore in the March quarter.

Provision coverage ratio improved to 86.24% from 83.74% a year ago. Total provisions fell 70.37% to Rs 1,844 crore. Provisions on bad loans also fell 58% to Rs 3,089 crore.

Capital adequacy ratio improved to 14.93% in March from 13.10% in March 2020. The common equity tier (CET-1) ratio stood at 11.51%.

Domestic advances grew 1.31% to Rs 3,62,361 crore while deposits rose 14.22% to Rs 5,51,135 crore. The bank expects 5-6% credit growth in 2021-22, Das said.