Rs 3005 Crore Of Net Profit Reported By Indian Bank in FY21

State-owned Indian Bank said that it closed the last fiscal with a net profit of Rs 3,004.67 crore on a total income of Rs 45,185.04 crore, said a top official.

The bank had earned a total income of about Rs 44,099 crore and incurred a net loss of Rs 4,643 crore for 2019-20.

The last fiscal was the first full year of operations after the Allahabad Bank was merged with the Indian Bank.

According to the Indian Bank, the figures for 2019-20 were arrived at by totalling the numbers of the two banks.

Addressing reporters, Padmaja Chunduru, MD and CEO, Indian bank, said the bank's board of directors has recommended a dividend of 20 per cent for FY21.

Queried about the number of employees who had succumbed to Covid-19, she said the bank had unfortunately lost about 110 employees to the dreaded virus, most of them during the pandemic's second wave.

According to her, 11 persons belonging to the deceased employees' families have applied for a job on compassionate grounds and appointment orders for some of them have been issued.

Looking back at the fiscal that went by, Chunduru said: "It was a significant and challenging year for Indian Bank due to the pandemic and it being the first full year of amalgamation with Allahabad Bank."

She added that the bank had logged strong and steady performance.

During the period under review, Indian Bank's total business went up to Rs 928,388 crore (deposits Rs 538,071 crore, advances Rs 390,317 crore) from Rs 857,499 crore (deposits Rs 488,835 crore, advances Rs 368,664 crore) logged during FY20.

Chunduru said the advances to retail, agriculture and MSME segment stood at Rs 218,942 crore last year, up from Rs 195,767 crore lent to those sectors in FY20.

She said last year, Indian Bank's provisions stood at Rs 8,391 crore, down from Rs 14,230 crore provided during the previous fiscal.

The Indian Bank ended last fiscal with a gross non-performing assets (GNPA) of Rs 38,455 crore and a net NPA of Rs 12,271 crore, down from the previous year's GNPA with closing figures of Rs 41,998 crore and net NPA of Rs 14,273 crore.

According to Chunduru, the bank's cost-to-income ratio came down last year to 47.59 per cent from 49.08 per cent in FY20, and it is expected to come down further due to the merger.

Last year, the Indian Bank had sold priority sector advances of Rs 39,605 crore and the buyers were private banks.

She said Indian Bank has successfully completed the amalgamation with Allahabad Bank, including the core banking solution (CBS) integration.

Chunduru said Indian Bank has rationalised 217 branches, 25 zonal offices, 12 currency chests and other offices like staff training centres, large corporate branches, service branches and stressed asset management branches.

According to her, the emphasis during the current year will be on transformation in digital operations and human resource front.

The bank's focus will also be on leveraging the larger balance sheet size and higher capital adequacy, wider geographical presence, and enhanced technology.