Canara Bank Q1 net up 32 per cent

Bangalore:
21 July 2004

R.V. Shastri, chairman and managing director of Canara Bank, said the profits were driven by rising credit off-take and falling deposit rates. The cost of deposits averaged 4.71 per cent in Q1.

Total income in Q1 was Rs 2,185 crore, up from Rs 2,063.22 crore during the corresponding quarter of the last financial year. Interest earnings were Rs 1,819 crore (Rs 1,744 crore).

Investment income also increased to Rs 776.99 crore (Rs 749.22 crore) despite a fall in yields.

However, Shastri admitted that a slowdown had taken place in treasury profits, unlike in the previous years. This quarter treasury profits were Rs 173 crore (Rs 143.32 crore).

The bank also made lower provisions this year of Rs 127 crore (Rs 148 crore) on non-performing assets. This was on account of the Rs 800 crore of floating provisions already being maintained. As a result, the operating profits went up to Rs 644.64 crore (Rs 497.10 crore).

The bank, Shastri said, planned to reach a business level of Rs 1,55,000 crore by March 2005 of which at least Rs 56,000 crore was expected to come from advances. Agriculture and retail credits were expected to power this growth in credit, he said.