State-owned Bank of India reported an 80.51 per cent year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit to INR 3,302.58 crore during the first quarter of FY27, primarily driven by higher non-interest income and improved recoveries from written-off accounts. 
On a standalone basis, the lender posted a net profit of INR 3,067.90 crore in the April-June quarter of FY27, compared with INR 2,252.12 crore in the corresponding period last year, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 36.23 per cent. 
The bank's net interest income (NII), which reflects earnings from lending operations, increased 12.61 per cent year-on-year to INR 6,833 crore from INR 6,068 crore a year earlier. However, its net interest margin (NIM) moderated to 2.52 per cent during the quarter from 2.55 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year and 2.58 per cent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, advances registered a healthy growth of 18.64 per cent year-on-year. 
Non-interest income rose 19.07 per cent year-on-year to INR 2,579 crore from INR 2,166 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. According to the bank's investor presentation, the increase was mainly supported by a sharp rise in recoveries from written-off accounts and higher profits from exchange transactions. 
Recoveries from written-off accounts nearly doubled to INR 609 crore during the quarter compared with INR 322 crore in the year-ago period, registering an 89.13 per cent increase. Profit from exchange transactions also more than doubled, rising 113.21 per cent year-on-year to INR 226 crore from INR 106 crore. 
The lender's global deposits increased 14.9 per cent year-on-year to INR 9.58 lakh crore from INR 8.34 lakh crore. However, the share of low-cost current account and savings account (CASA) deposits declined to 36.68 per cent at the end of the reporting quarter, compared with 37.64 per cent at the end of the previous quarter and 39.88 per cent a year earlier. 
During the post-earnings conference, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rajneesh Karnatak said the bank had mobilised around USD 200 million through Foreign Currency Non-Resident Bank [FCNR(B)] deposits and was targeting USD 1.2 billion before the special window closes in September. He said demand had picked up in recent days, with deposits coming from countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and several Middle East markets. 
Karnatak said the bank plans to use funds raised through FCNR(B) deposits to reduce its dependence on bulk deposits while supporting credit growth in the coming quarters. He also stated that the bank is offering leverage of up to nine times against these deposits and is not planning any partnership with other banks for this product. 
The Reserve Bank of India had introduced a special FCNR(B) deposit window during its monetary policy review held earlier this year. The measure, which includes bearing the cost of currency hedging, aims to attract higher foreign currency inflows and strengthen India's external sector position. 
Bank of India's retail, agriculture and MSME advances grew 19.75 per cent year-on-year and accounted for 58.30 per cent of its domestic gross advances, indicating continued focus on priority lending segments. 
The bank also disclosed that it has built a domestic and overseas corporate lending pipeline worth around INR 70,000 crore for FY27. Karnatak expects the corporate loan book to grow by 12-13 per cent during the financial year. He further projected that global advances would increase by 15-16 per cent while global deposits are expected to grow by 13-14 per cent during FY27. 
On the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0, the bank said it is targeting disbursements of INR 8,000 crore before the scheme concludes. It has already disbursed around INR 4,600 crore under the programme. 
The bank also continued to strengthen its asset quality during the quarter. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) improved to 1.81 per cent from 2.92 per cent a year earlier, while net NPAs declined to 0.51 per cent from 0.75 per cent. Its Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR), which indicates the extent of provisioning against bad loans, improved to 93.83 per cent compared with 92.94 per cent in the corresponding period last year. 
Source PTI