Canara Bank’s quarterly net profit rose 8.4% to ₹5,175 crore as lending growth, stronger asset quality and higher net interest income lifted performance.
Canara Bank reported its strongest quarterly profit on record for the three months to September, as the state-owned lender said higher lending growth and better asset quality continued to support earnings. According to the bank’s earnings call and coverage of the results by The Economic Times and Financial Express, net profit rose 8.4% from a year earlier to ₹5,175 crore, while net interest income increased 20.39% to an all-time high of more than ₹11,000 crore. The bank also said its global business crossed ₹30 lakh crore, a milestone that reflected broad-based expansion across retail, agriculture, MSME and corporate lending.
The lender’s balance sheet improved further during the quarter. Global advances climbed 19.46% year on year to ₹13.75 lakh crore, helped by demand in segments such as green energy, power, data centres and infrastructure, according to the company’s management and the market reports published alongside the results. Asset quality also strengthened, with gross non-performing assets falling to 1.33% and net NPAs to 0.30%. The provision coverage ratio rose to 95.34%, giving the bank a larger buffer against potential credit losses, while return on equity reached 18.49%, above its earlier internal guidance.
Management struck a confident tone about the outlook, saying the bank had already outpaced much of its original full-year plan. Brajesh Singh, the managing director and chief executive, said on the earnings call that Canara Bank expected to sustain its net interest margin at 2.55%, helped by repricing of loans after the rate hike and growth in higher-yielding retail credit. He also said the bank would be able to absorb an expected one-time hit from the shift to expected credit loss rules over about two years, with the provision now estimated at ₹12,000 crore to ₹15,000 crore, up from an earlier estimate of ₹10,000 crore to ₹12,000 crore.
There were still pressure points. The bank’s current account and savings account ratio stood at 29%, slightly below its target range, partly because it mobilised ₹55,000 crore of foreign currency non-resident deposits. Treasury operations were also hit by a mark-to-market loss of about ₹600 crore as yields hardened, though management said the effect was outweighed by stronger core income. Singh said the bank had a pipeline of about ₹47,000 crore to ₹50,000 crore in sanctioned and prospective business, with demand coming from green energy, battery storage, power evacuation, data centres and infrastructure. The bank also said its capital position remained comfortable, with a capital adequacy ratio of 17.19% and common equity tier one capital of 12.80%.
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