Ujjivan Small Finance Bank reports 74.7 pc net profit drop in Q4, NII down 7.4 pc

Mumbai, April 30 (IANS) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) on Wednesday reported a 74.7 per cent sharp decline in its net profit at Rs 83.4 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY25, compared to Rs 329.6 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

This decline in earnings was mainly due to increased provisioning and a slowdown in interest income, caused by changes in the bank’s business mix.

In the fourth quarter, Ujjivan SFB’s Net Interest Income (NII) came in at Rs 864.4 crore, down 7.4 per cent from Rs 933.5 crore in the same period a year ago.

However, the bank's asset quality showed improvement on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, as per its stock exchange filing.

The Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) dropped to 2.18 per cent from 2.68 per cent in the previous quarter, and the Net NPA also improved to 0.49 per cent from 0.56 per cent.

The bank’s Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) remained strong at 78 per cent, backed by accelerated provisioning of Rs 46 crore during the quarter.

PCR is an important financial indicator for banks, reflecting their ability to cover potential losses from non-performing loans.

Additionally, Ujjivan SFB saw healthy growth in its deposits. Total deposits rose by 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY), reaching Rs 37,630 crore.

The bank also recorded strong growth in its CASA (Current Account Savings Account) ratio, which improved to 25.5 per cent, up 43 basis points from the previous quarter.

The gross loan book increased to Rs 32,122 crore -- a 5 per cent rise from the previous quarter and an 8 per cent increase from the same period previous fiscal.

One of the key highlights for the bank was the growth in its secured loan portfolio, which now constitutes 44 per cent of the total loan book, up from 30 per cent during a year-ago period.

Ujjivan SFB also set a record in loan disbursements, with Rs 7,440 crore disbursed in Q4 -- a 39 per cent QoQ growth. This was driven by a strong performance in micro-banking and individual loan segments.

Following the result declaration, the shares of the small finance bank was down by over 3 per cent to Rs 42.56 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday.

--IANS

pk/na