Bank of Maharashtra Bucks Trend, Shares Soar 13%

Shares of Bank of Maharashtra bucked the selling pressure in PSU banking stocks by surging as much as 13.5 per cent to Rs 33.45. Bank of Maharashtra reported higher net profit as well as a slight improvement in its asset quality for the third quarter in contrast to a spate of disappointing earnings from other state-run lenders.

Bank of Maharashtra's net profit soared 56 per cent to Rs 89 crore in the quarter ending December 2015, aided by lower provisions.

Its provisions for bad loans fell to Rs 354 crore from Rs 420 crore in the September quarter.

The lender's gross non-performing assets as a percentage of advances fell to 7.97 per cent from 7.98 per cent in the September quarter. It net non-performing assets as a percentage of advances also showed an improvement, falling to 5.52 per cent from 5.59 per cent in the September quarter.

Bank of Maharashtra shares provisionally ended 8.8 per cent higher at Rs 31.90, as compared to a 5.4 per cent slump in PSU banking index (Nifty PSU Bank).