Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: Bank of Baroda on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 5,055 crore for the quarter ended December 2025, up 4.5% from Rs 4,837 crore a year earlier, helped by a sharp fall in provisions even as margins stayed under pressure.Net interest income (NII) was largely flat at Rs 11,800 crore, compared with Rs 11,786 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, as interest income growth was offset by higher funding costs. Total interest income rose 1.5% year-on-year to Rs 31,750 crore, while interest expenses increased 2.4% to Rs 19,950 crore.Other income supported revenues, rising 5.9% to Rs 3,600 crore. Operating income increased 1.4% to Rs 15,400 crore. Operating expenses, however, grew faster at 6.7% to Rs 8,024 crore, leading to a 3.7% decline in operating profit to Rs 7,377 crore.Provisions and contingencies fell sharply by 26.2% year-on-year to Rs 799 crore, reflecting lower credit costs. Tax provisions declined 12.7% to Rs 1,524 crore. The reduction in provisioning more than offset the pressure on operating profitability and aided bottom-line growth.On the balance sheet, outstanding deposits rose 10.3% year-on-year to Rs 15.47 lakh crore at the end of December 2025, while global advances grew 14.7% to Rs 13.45 lakh crore, driven by retail and international portfolios.Asset quality continued to improve. Gross non-performing assets declined in absolute terms to Rs 27,399 crore from Rs 28,471 crore a year earlier. The gross NPA ratio improved to 2.04% from 2.43% in the year-ago quarter and 2.16% in the preceding quarter.Capital adequacy strengthened, with the CET-1 ratio rising to 12.97% from 12.38% a year ago. Profitability ratios remained stable, with return on assets at 1.09% against 1.15% last year, while return on equity stood at 15.59%, compared with 17.01% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.The cost of deposits edged down to 4.99% from 5.08% a year ago, while yield on advances moderated to 7.56% from 8.35%, reflecting margin compression in a competitive lending environment.
