Corporation Bank H1 net up 25.1 per cent

New Delhi: Corporation Bank yesterday announced a 25.1 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 271.36 crore for the half-year ended September 30, compared to the previous year''s corresponding figure of Rs 216.91 crore. Gross profit went up 18.9 per cent from Rs 412.68 crore to Rs 490.69 crore. Mr K. Cherian Varghese, Chairman and Managing Director, said that the higher profit had been achieved due to an improvement in spreads from 3.41 per cent as on September 30, 2002 to 3.58 per cent as on September 30, 2003.

"We have done this by first bringing down our cost of deposit from 6.9 per cent to 5.7 per cent, even while maintaining average yield on advances and investment at 9.2 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively as on September 30, 2003."

He added: "This, in turn, has been possible also because the share of demand deposits to our total deposits has increased from 24.76 per cent as on September 30, 2002 to 27.35 per cent now." The aggregate deposits amounted to Rs 22,518.01 crore, representing a 15.5 per cent year-on-year growth.

Net advances stood at Rs 10,773.12 crore (Rs 9,638.48 crore), up 11.8 per cent, while aggregate investments rose by 32.7 per cent from Rs 9,654.14 crore to Rs 12,811.96 crore.