Non-core income boosts banks' Q4 show

More than loans

- Abhinaba Saha

Robust non-core or treasury income has beefed up the numbers of domestic banks in the January-March quarter.

A Mint analysis of 97 listed banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies, which have reported earnings so far, revealed that the aggregate total income and adjusted net profit of banks rose to an eight-quarter high in Q4, thanks to falling yields on their government bond holdings during that period.

Non-core income, which majorly includes gains from government securities, formed 16% of the banks' total income in the March quarter, compared with 12.5% in the previous quarter, according to the analysis. While banks' on-year core income growth marginally outpaced that of their non-core earnings, albeit on a lower base, sequentially, the contrast appears starker.