Thrissur-based South Indian Bank’s net profit increased by 30.49 per cent for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, compared to the same period last year.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer V. A. Joseph and Chairman Amitabha Guha told presspersons here on Thursday that the net profit for the July-September quarter was Rs.127 crore against Rs.97 crore for the same period last year.
Total business increased by 12.67 per cent to Rs.75,610 crore , from Rs. 67,110 crore.
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However, the gross NPA (non-performing assets) increased to 1.92 per cent from 1.74 per cent, and the net NPA to 1.39 per cent from 0.86 per cent. Some of the corporate loans have gone bad.
Further, the bank has not increased the advances aggressively in this segment this year.
“We should be able to recover and upgrade these advances in the coming months,” Mr. Joseph said. The bank wants to bring down the net NPA to less than one per cent this year.
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The focus this year would be on reducing the net NPA, improving retail portfolio, and sustaining profitability, he said.
With the present economic situation, the bank is focusing on retail loans. It is looking at 20 per cent growth in retail advances this year, and increasing gold loans to 25 per cent from the existing 20 per cent.
NRI remittances have been exceptionally good, and this year it has crossed Rs. 7,000 crore because of rupee depreciation and attractive interest rates.
The total number of branches will be increased to 800 by the end of March 2014 from the existing 775, and the number of ATMs will be increased to 1,000 from 878 now.