Total income was at Rs 1569.01 crore in Q4 FY21, up by 14.8% from Rs 1366.60 crore in Q4 FY20.

Net interest income (NII) increased by 18% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 656 crore during the quarter.

The bank said that in Q4 FY21, NII was impacted due to interest reversals of Rs 66 crore on account of NPA tagging of borrower accounts in compliance with RBI circular of 7th April. The bank had made Rs 38 crore of provisions against these reversals which were utilized during the quarter. The NII growth was, however, aided by a reduction in cost of funds by 86 bps.

Operating profit before provisions and contingencies was at Rs 374 crore in the fourth quarter, which is higher by 18% as compared to Rs 316 crore reported in the same period last year.

Provisions and Contingencies surged to Rs 178 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 13 crore in Q4 FY20. The bank had made a COVID-19 related provision of Rs 138 crore in Q4 FY20.

Profit before tax in Q4 March 2021 stood at Rs 196 crore, up by 19% from Rs 165 crore in Q4 March 2020.

On the asset quality side, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 1,502.82 crore as on 31 March 2021 as against Rs 302.73 crore as on 31 December 2020 and Rs 457.78 crore as on 31 March 2021.

The gross NPA ratio surged to 4.25% as on 31 March 2021 from 0.99% as on 31 December 2020 and 1.68% as on 31 March 2020.

The net NPA ratio increased to 2.18% as on 31 March 2021 from 0.24% as on 31 December 2020 and 0.81% as on 31 March 2020.

AU Bank reported 73.5% jump in net profit to Rs 1,170.68 crore on 28.2% rise in total income to Rs 6401.60 crore in the year ended 31 March 2021 over the year ended 31 March 2020.

Total deposits increased by 37.5% YoY to Rs 35,979.31 crore while total advances rose 28.2% YoY to Rs 34,608.91 crore as at 31 March 2021.

Commenting on the performance, Sanjay Agarwal, MD & CEO, AU Small Finance Bank, said, “Despite the challenging context especially in the H1FY21, our performance has been extremely resilient. We were able to keep our asset quality in check, strengthen our balance sheet, increase granularity of our deposits, and significantly bolster our branch banking and digital properties.

We are working on various digital initiatives to create a best-in-class customer centric Tech-led Bank. Our recent capital raise strengthens our positioning to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead of us.

Situation on the ground is evolving with the second wave of infections, we are hopeful that with the ongoing vaccination drive, and actions taken by the Government situation will stabilize in the near future.”

AU Small Finance Bank (AU Bank) is a scheduled commercial bank. As on 31 March 2021, the bank has established operations across 744 banking touchpoints while serving 20.2 lakh customers in 15 states & 2 union territories.

The scrip slumped 8.66% to currently trade at Rs 1026.65 on the BSE.