DCB stays in profit, nets Rs 11.35 crore in Q4

MUMBAI: Private sector lender Development Credit Bank turned in a quarterly profit in the March quarter as its provisions, including bad loans, tumbled two-thirds from a year earlier and the bank saw a rise in income from lending.

Its fourth quarter net profit was 11.35 crore, compared with a loss of 8.16 crore a year earlier. The bank's profit show comes after reporting losses in seven consecutive quarters of the previous two fiscals. It had returned to profitability in the September quarter last year.

"The bank has not declared a dividend this year since it has accumulated losses of around 350 crore. It will take about 3-4 years to wipe out these losses," said DCB MD and CEO Murali Natrajan.

"We have been able to deliver modest profits after two difficult years. We will aim for a higher growth rate once we fully stabilise the bank and strengthen its foundations," said DCB chairman Nasser Munjee.

For the year 2010-11, the net profit was at 21 crore against a loss of 78 crore a year ago. "We attribute the return to profits to careful execution of new strategy of growing CASA, retail mortgages, MSME loans while improving portfolio quality and NPAs through collections and recoveries," said Mr Natrajan.