Shares of Canara Bank were down 2% in early trade despite solid fourth-quarter earnings. On Tuesday, the stock was down 1.23% at Rs 309 at 10:48 am.

The lender reported a net profit of Rs 3,175 crore, up 90% from last year’s Rs 1,666 crore, while net interest income (NII), or the difference between interest earned and interest paid, rose 23% to Rs 8,616 crore in the fourth quarter under review from Rs 7,006 crore a year ago.

Its operating profit in the March quarter was Rs 7,252 crore, up 17% year-on-year. Canara Bank’s asset quality improved from a year earlier, with the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio falling to 5.35% in the March quarter from 5.89% at the end-March 2022.

The net non-performing asset (NNPA) ratio decreased to 1.73% in March 2023 from 2.65% in March 2022. The bank’s provision coverage ratio (PCR) stood at 87.31% at the end of March, compared to 84.17% in the previous quarter.

On the operational front, global business grew 12% year-on-year to Rs 20.41 lakh crore, with global deposits at Rs 11.79 lakh crore by March 2023. The bank’s domestic deposits stood at Rs 10.94 lakh crore at the end of the quarter, up 6% year-on-year.

While the retail loan portfolio rose 11% year-on-year to Rs 1.4 lakh crore, housing loans increased 14% year-on-year to Rs 84,364 crore. The lender’s board has recommended a dividend of Rs 12 per share (or 120%) at a face value of Rs 10 for FY22-23 to shareholders. As of the March quarter, the lender had 9,706 branches, of which 3,048 were in rural areas, 2,742 semi-urban, 1,991 in urban and 1,925 metro and 10,726 ATMs.