Canara Bank Stock’s Historic Net Profit Results in 120% Dividend Announcement

Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank with 9706 branches, out of which 3048 are rural, 2742 are semi urban, 1991 urban & 1925 metro along with 10726 ATMs. The bank also has 3 overseas branches in London, New York and Dubai.   

 The stock price of Canara Bank has been witnessing volatile move during the day as the stock after opening at a level of Rs 318.20 made an intraday low of Rs 302.35, which also happens to be the important short-term support for the stock as defined by the 20-DMA. The stock took support around its short-term moving average and covered quite a bit of ground.

 The volatility in the stock price could be attributed to the outcome of the quarterly results of the public sector lender.   

 On Monday, the bank reported its earnings for quarter ended March 31, 2023, net profit of the company jumped 90.63% YoY to Rs 3175 crore. For FY23, for the first time ever, the bank reported 5-digit net profit at Rs 10,604 crore. Net interest income (NII) grew by 23.01% YoY to Rs 8167 crore.   

 The lender’s gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio improved to 5.35% as on quarter ended March 31, 2023, down from 7.51% at the end of March 31, 2022. Net non-performing assets (NNPA) stood at 1.73% as of March 2023 as compared to 2.65% at the end of March 2022.   

 The bank’s provision coverage ratio (PCR) stood at 87.31% at the end of March quarter as against 84.17% for quarter ended March 2022.   

The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs. 12 per equity share (120%) for the year ended on 31.03.2023 subject to requisite approvals.   

Considering the Bank’s Performance, Board of Directors have permitted to pay 15 days salary as Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) to the employees.  

 Ace investor Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s shareholding in Canara Bank stand at 2.07% as of quarter ended March, 2023. In the near term, the stock has strong support placed at Rs 302-303 which is also the 20-DMA of the stock. Hence, keep a close eye on this public sector bank.