MUMBAI, May 17 Reuters Indian private lender Bandhan Bank reported a 93 drop in fourthquarter net profit on Friday as it increased provisions and wrote off bad loans.

The Kolkatabased bank39;s net profit stood at 546.3 million rupees 6.56 million in the three months ended March 31, down from 8.08 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Bandhan Bank39;s provisions and contingencies jumped to 17.74 billion rupees from 7.35 billion rupees a year earlier.

The bank wrote off bad loans worth 38.5 billion rupees in the JanuaryMarch period, compared with none in the past four quarters.

These were loans given to small borrowers during the pandemic and were covered by a government guarantee.

However, the loans were being examined by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company, an agency set up by the government, the bank said, which could delay a payout of the government guarantee.

The bank termed the writeoffs as a prudent measure.

Its gross nonperforming asset ratio a key gauge of asset quality improved to 3.84 as of Marchend from 7.02 at the end of the prior three months as a result of the writeoffs.

Bandhan Bank is set to see a management transition after Managing Director and Chief Executive Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said he would retire on July 9, after spending nearly a decade at the helm.

The lender39;s net interest income rose 16 onyear to 28.66 billion rupees, while net interest margin stood at 7.6.

Its loans grew 14.3, while deposits rose 25.

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