Karnataka Bank Q4 net up 46 per cent

Mangalore: Karnataka Bank has registered a net profit of Rs40.25 crore in the quarter ended March 2005 against Rs27.55 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The quarter on quarter growth is 46 per cent.

The bank registered a net profit of Rs147.15 crore during 2004-05 against Rs133.17 crore in the previous year. The growth is 10.5 per cent.

Karnataks bank chairman and CEO Anantakrishna said that the bank had provided for depreciation on account of transfer of SLR securities from `available for sale' category to `held to maturity' category as permitted by the Reserve Bank of India and also for the impact on wage revision.

In a press release, the bank stated that it has proposed a dividend of 20 per cent on the expanded capital base.

During 2004-05, the bank recorded an operating profit of Rs340.71 crore (Rs329.79 crore). As on March 31, 2005, the net NPA stood at 2.29 per cent (4.98 per cent on March 31, 2004).

The capital adequacy ratio, which was 13.03 per cent as on March 31, 2004, increased to 14.16 per cent in the last fiscal.

The net-owned funds had crossed the Rs1,000-crore mark.

The bank has networked 276 offices under core-banking solution, covering 92 per cent of business. The bank will increase the number of branches to 400 in the next year.

During 2004-05, the bank crossed a total business of Rs17,000 crore. Deposits grew 15.2 per cent to touch Rs10,837 crore, and advances by 34.7 per cent to Rs6,287 crore.