Dena Bank Q4 net jumps 62% on tax refunds

State-owned Dena Bank reported a 62 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 255 crore in the January-March 2012 quarter compared with Rs 157 crore in the year-ago period.

The profit surged on the back of a tax refund of Rs 70 crore. Without the refund, the profit growth would have been almost flat.

Net interest income (the difference between interest earned and interest expended) during the quarter rose 27 per cent to Rs 598 crore (Rs 471 crore in Q4 FY11). Fee-based income grew by 35 per cent to Rs 150 crore (Rs 118 crore).

The bank's net profit for the full year ended March 31, 2012, grew 31 per cent to Rs 803 crore (Rs 612 crore in FY11).

The public sector bank's board has recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per share of face value Rs 10.

In the reporting quarter, net interest margin (NIM) increased to 3.21 per cent from 3.09 per cent in the year-ago period.

In FY12, the bank restructured assets worth Rs 3,211 crore (Rs 1,213 crore in FY11), of which, Rs 2,000 crore was in the fourth quarter alone.

“Major restructuring has been in sectors such as aviation (Air India) and state-owned power distribution companies. We have brought down our exposure to the power sector from 20 per cent to 15 per cent of total advances,” said Ms Nupur Mitra, Chairman and Managing Director.

Provisions made in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 291 crore (Rs 124 crore).

On RBI's guidelines on Basel III, Ms Mitra said, the bank proposed to raise Rs 1,200 crore this fiscal by issuing subordinated debt to maintain CRAR at 12 per cent.

The PSU lender is aiming at a credit growth of 22 per cent.

Shares of Dena Bank closed at Rs 85.10 a share, down 5.23 per cent over the previous close, on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in