Hit by provisions, BoR posts Rs 102 crore loss in FY 10

MUMBAI: Troubled private-sector lender Bank of Rajasthan, which is set to be taken over by ICICI Bank, today posted a loss of over Rs 100-crore during FY 10, hit by huge provisions on employee benefits and mounting bad loans.

The bank posted a net loss of Rs 102.13 crore in the year ended March 31, as against a profit of Rs 117.71 crore in the previous year after it provided around Rs 117 crore to cover its bad loans compared to Rs 20 crore in FY 09.

In Q4 (Jan-Mar), the net losses stood at Rs 92 crore as against a profit of Rs 3 crore in year-ago period. Total income for the year declined to Rs 1,489.48 crore from Rs 1507.22 crore in the year-ago period.

Bad loans of the bank more than doubled to Rs 133.5 crore in FY 10 against Rs 57 crore the year before.

"The fall in profits was due to the provisions made in the last year on bad loans and employee benefits like wage revisions and superannuation benefits," BoR Managing Director and CEO, G Padmanabhan, who was appointed by the RBI to head the troubled lender, said.

Last year, the bank provided Rs 50 crore for wage revisions and nearly Rs 150 crore as additional provisions on superannuation benefits, Padmanabhan said.