The Banker writes….
Indian banks once again feature prominently in the NPL table. In the 2019 ranking 11 lenders from the country feature, up from the nine that were present in the 2018 edition. This is a testament to the difficulties facing the Indian banking sector as it attempts to address pressing asset quality issues that stem from a credit boom experienced between 2006 and 2011. The highest placed Indian lender in the 2019 NPL ranking is IDBI, in position nine, with NPLs to total loans of 27.4%. It is followed by UCO Bank in 11th with NPLs of 25%. The remaining Indian banks occupy positions 15 and 17, while also rounding out the table from places 19 to 25.
Looking to the worst profit performance, Indian lenders once again feature heavily. IDBI tops the table with a loss of $3.28bn. In second position is Germany’s Norddeutsche Landesbank. The remaining banks, from positions three to 10, with the exception of Portugal’s Novo Banco in ninth place, also hail from India. The country’s public sector banks, in particular, have seen their profitability hit in recent times as they have been forced to onboard loan loss provisions.