Net bank NPAs up at 1.68% in 2012-13: RBI

Net non-performing assets (NPA) of all scheduled commercial banks in the country rose to 1.68 per cent of their aggregate loans at the end of 2012-13, from 1.28 in the previous financial year, figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

Net NPA of the 26 public sector banks, including State Bank of India (SBI),  rose to 2.02 during the year ended 31 March 2013, compared to 1.53 in the previous financial year.

SBI and its five associates recorded a net NPA of 2.04 per cent against 1.76 per cent in the comparable period lat year, RBI said in a report titled A Profile of Banks: 2012-13.

Net NPA of new private sector bank rose marginally to 0.45 per cent from 0.42 per cent in the previous financial year.

Amidst tight liquidity conditions, the cost of funds of all commercial banks increased to 6.12 per cent during the 2012-13 financial year from 5.90 per cent in 2011-12.

Fund costs of state-owned banks increased to 6.27 per cent in 2012-13 from 6.06 per cent in 2011-12.

The rising fund costs squeezed net interest margin (NIM) or interest spread of banks to 2.79 per cent in 2012-13, from 2.90 per cent a year ago.

Public sector banks reported NIM of 2.57 per cent in the year 2012-13 compared to 2.76 per cent in the previous financial year.

Business per employee as well as profit per employee of all scheduled commercial banks at aggregate level increased to Rs12.13 crore during 2012-13 from Rs11.0 crore in 2011-12.

Profitability in terms of return on assets of all scheduled commercial banks at the aggregate level declined to 1.03 per cent during 2012-13 from 1.08 per cent in the previous year.

Capital to risk assets ratio (CRAR) of all scheduled commercial banks at the aggregate level decreased to 13.88 per cent at end March 2013 compared to 14.24 per cent during the previous year.

 A Profile of Banks: 2012-13, which is the ninth volume in the series, provides bank-wise and bank group-wise information on important performance indicators of all scheduled commercial banks excluding regional rural banks, for the period 2008-09 to 2012-13.

The publication covers 21 important indicators, including return on assets, net interest margin, capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR), business per employee, and profit per employee.