Allahabad Bank into the black

BHOPAL: Public sector lender Allahabad Bank has come back into the black by reporting a net profit of Rs 29 crore for the first quarter riding on higher other income and lower provision. It had registered a loss of Rs 564 crore in the first quarter of the last fiscal.
The bank's sticky loan ratio rose to 13.85% but chief executive officer Usha Ananthasubramanian said that the good news is slippages have been contained.She said the other strong points for the bank are 21% rise in operating profit at Rs 1170 crore for the quarter and rising savings bank deposits helping cost of deposits fall 76 basis points year-on-year. Fresh slippages during the quarter were Rs 2004 crore while reduction in non-performing assets was Rs 1900 crore.
Ananthasubramanian said the focus would be on housing loan to grow the retail credit given the absence of large projects in the horizon. The CEO said that the bank may rise Rs 500 crore in the second quarter.