Tamilnad Mercantile Bank H1 net rises 27% to ₹497 crore

H1 net interest income grows 18% to ₹1,033 crore

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd. (TMB) said its standalone net profit for the first half of FY23 rose 27% to ₹497 crore on account of an increase in credit-deposit ratio and net interest margin, control over slippages and reduction in non-performing assets.

Net interest income rose 18% to ₹1,033 crore, while net interest margin stood at 4.47% (4.04%). Provision coverage ratio rose to 88.50% from 80.50%.

Announcing the results, bank MD& CEO, S. Krishnan said: “We continue to focus on retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) sector, which stands at 87% and balance is corporate sector advances. So, the risk is diversified.”

“Going forward, we will bring down RAM sector advances to 85% and then to 80%. We are not in a hurry to do it. We are not shutting down on corporates. We will take them on board on case-to-case basis,” he said.

For H1, TMB’s total business increased by 7.43% to ₹78,013 crore, of which advances accounted for ₹43,137 crore.

Gross non-performing assets as a percentage to total advances declined to 1.70% from 3.31% and net NPA to 0.86% from 1.79%.

Stating that the RBI had removed the restriction on opening branches, he said they were planning to open new branches ‘cautiously and carefully.’