Marginal rise in Indian Bank net

T. M. Bhasin, Chairman & Managing Director, Indian Bank, at a press conference, in Chennai on Saturday ( October 20, 2012) Photo : Bijoy Ghosh To go with Ravikumar's report

Indian Bank recorded a 5.97 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs. 496.68 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2012, against Rs. 468.69 crore in the same period in the previous year. The rise was 6.50 per cent sequentially with the first quarter net profit at Rs. 461.74 crore.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director, said the net interest margin was slightly lower at 3.2 per cent in the second quarter as compared to 3.30 per cent in the first quarter. The reduction in the base lending rate by 25 basis points during the quarter under reference had affected the net interest margin.

The credit deposit (CD) ratio was marginally lower at 73.13 per cent against 74.32 per cent in the previous quarter, Mr. Bhasin said. The bank would review the interest rates on deposits and take a call on recalibrating them based on the Reserve Bank of India move at its monetary policy meeting on October 30, Mr. Bhasin said. The bank has fixed a target of 3.25 per cent in respect of net interest margin for the current financial year.

Total income increased to Rs. 3,773.75 crore during the second quarter from Rs. 3,377.13 crore in the year-ago period.

Total business

Total business registered a rise of 14.27 per cent (annualised) at Rs. 2,27,116 crore against Rs. 2,11,988 crore on March 31, 2012. While deposits recorded a growth of 17.18 per cent at Rs. 1,31,180 crore against Rs. 1,20,804 crore, advances increased by 10.42 per cent to Rs. 95,936 crore from Rs. 91,184 crore.

The gross NPA ratio stood at 2.06 per cent as against 1.21 per cent in the year-ago period and 2.03 per cent as at the end of March 31, 2012. The net NPA ratio stood at 1.33 per cent against 0.69 per cent on September 30, 2011, and 1.33 per cent as of March 31, 2012.

The provision coverage ratio was 70.97 per cent against the RBI norm of 70 per cent.

The bank recorded a recovery of Rs. 307 crore in the first-half of the current financial year and had written off bad debts to the tune of Rs. 103 crore, Mr. Bhasin said.