Indian Bank H1 net profit up
By Our Banking Bureau | 06 Nov 2004
Chennai:
Indian Bank has recorded a 32 per cent growth in net profits
for the first half of the current fiscal at Rs154.10 crore.
The profits were after making substantial provisions of
about Rs350 crore.
These provisions included Rs110 crore for the likely increase in salary costs, Rs129 crore for depreciation in value of investment portfolio, Rs85 crore for general provision and for the first time Rs30 crore for market risk and contingencies. The bank''s net interest income grew 26 per cent to Rs634 crore.
Announcing the results, B N Rao, chairman and managing director, said the bank''s deposits had grown at 13.74 per cent compared to an industry growth of 6.35 per cent. The bank''s advances also grew at 19 per cent compared to 11.5 per cent growth by the banking industry during this period. Deposits were at Rs33,046 crore while advances were at Rs16,000 crore as of September. The bank was able to improve its net interest margin marginally at 3.59 per cent. The yield on advances was at 8.45 per cent while the cost of deposits was at 4.76 per cent, down from about 5.61 per cent a year earlier.
Rao said that the retail loans constituted 24 per cent of the loan portfolio and it was expected to touch 33 per cent by the end of the current fiscal. The goal was to reach a retail portfolio of 50 per cent by fiscal 2007, he said. The corporate loan portfolio had also grown in the first half, he said. The bank''s net NPA was lower at 2.25 per cent compared to 2.71 per cent for March 2004 and 4.79 per cent a year ago.
