Exim Bank's FY24 profit jumps 62% to Rs 2,518 cr; $ 450 mn exposure to Maldives performing well

Mumbai: Export-Import Bank of India on Monday reported 62 per cent jump in FY24 net profit at Rs 2,518 crore, primarily helped by a sharp improvement in the asset quality.

In FY23, profit stood at Rs 1,556 crore.

Amid souring of ties with the Maldives, Exim Bank said it has disbursed USD 450 million to the island nation, and the entire exposure is performing well, a senior official said.

The bank's overall loan book grew 17 per cent during the fiscal year and it is aiming for at least 10-12 per cent growth in FY25, managing director Harsha Bangari told reporters here.

When asked for the reasons for the lower growth aim for FY25, she said the bank had a similar target for FY24 as well but the asset growth came in higher than expectations.

The bank does not feel the need to go for any equity raising in FY25, she said, adding that it will be borrowing up to USD 3.5 billion in foreign currency and around Rs 35,000 crore from rupee-denominated borrowings.

The bank has a commitment to repay USD 1.2 billion coming up in FY25, she said.

The commercial book grew at 49 per cent, much faster than the policy business in FY24, which helped deliver the higher loan growth. The overall contribution of commercials in the overall book has reached 56 per cent business now.

Net interest margin declined sharply to 2.06 per cent in FY24 as against 2.29 per cent a year ago, which was attributed to the composition of assets wherein over 88 per cent are from the low-yielding investment grade and also hardening of rates across the world.

Bangari said an NIM of over 1.75 per cent is good for the bank as a bulk 93 per cent of the expenses for it revolve around interest repayments.

Gross non-performing assets ratio improved to 1.93 per cent as on March 31, 2024, from 4 per cent in the year-ago period, primarily because the slippages went down.

As a result of that, the overall provisions went down to Rs 2,600 crore from Rs 4,700 crore in FY23. Bangari said the governments of Ghana and Zambia paid USD 200 million of dues which also helped reduce provisions.

When asked about the Maldivian experience, a senior bank official said the bank has a commitment of USD 1.3 billion through a line of credit arrangement of which USD 450 million has been disbursed. Bangari stressed that all the exposure to the Maldives is performing well.

To a question on Sri Lanka, which had witnessed turbulence in the recent past, Bangari said Exim Bank has exposure to both the government and some banks in the emerald nation.

"'The entire debt of the government of Sri Lanka is being restructured. India is participating in that. So, we expect that the restructuring package will get concluded," she said, adding that it expects a final decision this year.

In the new fiscal, Exim Bank will be looking to open a new office in Madhya Pradesh, and also offices in Nepal and Latin America besides relocating two African offices, she said.