Indian lender RBL Bank reports lower-than-expected Q3 profit

MUMBAI: Indian private lender RBL Bank reported a lower-than-expected profit for the three months ended December on Saturday, in its first quarterly earnings since Dubai’s Emirates NBD bought a majority 60% stake in the bank.

RBL Bank posted a standalone net profit of 2.14 billion Indian rupees ($23.60 million) for the quarter ended December, compared with 326 million rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had expected a profit of 2.94 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG based on estimates of four analysts.

Profits rose as the bank cut provisions for bad loans and other contingencies by 46%.

The private lender’s net interest income rose 5% to 16.57 billion rupees for the third quarter, as loans registered strong 14% growth, helped by a robust increase in lending in its retail book.

The bank’s deposit base grew 12% during the quarter.

In October, Emirates NBD agreed to buy a 60% stake in RBL Bank for $3 billion, in one of the largest ever cross-border acquisitions involving India’s financial sector.

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The transaction was among a series of cross-border deals in India last year, coming months after Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s move to buy up to 25% of Yes Bank.

The lender said it has reduced growth across its unsecured loan book, considered as riskier while stepping up growth in mortgages and auto loans, the bank’s chief executive officer R. Subramaniakumar said at a press briefing after the earnings.

The bank will also focus on lending to small businesses and on providing services to non-resident Indians as it integrates with the network of Emirates NBD, he said.

RBL Bank’s asset quality improved with the gross non-performing asset ratio at 1.88% at the end of December, compared with 2.32% at the end of September.