BoM aims at 15pc growth in biz, keeps base rate unchanged

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has taken several measures to post a healthy growth in business and profitability keeping its base rate unchanged despite RBI's recent hike in key rates by 25 basis points.

"We are keeping the base rate unchanged at 8.25 per cent as of now despite hike by RBI in the monetary policy. We have only revised the deposit rate by 35 basis for one year maturity," BoM chairman and managing director Anup Sankar Bhattacharya told PTI.

He said the bank was aiming for a total business of Rs 1,20,000 crore, a growth of 15 per cent over 2009-10 when it registered business of Rs 1,04,230 crore.

Asked about profitability, Bhattacharya said the bank targeted improvement in net interest margin (NIM) to 2.75 per cent by March 2011.

The NIM was 2.54 per cent in the Q2 period ended September 2010 compared to 1.77 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

Without divulging numbers he said profitability would be better in the second half of the current fiscal.

The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 52.3 crore for the Q2 period, down 39 per cent over the corresponding period. It attributed the decline to rise in NPA.

Bhattacharya said, "In 2011, we will be setting up at least five micro asset recovery branches in identified rural centres to recover NPAs in smaller accounts to arrest slippage in net NPA to below 2 per cent."

During the fiscal, the bank also planned to open 24 new branches across the country for which approval from the Central bank has been taken.

The bank has undertaken a pilot project to set up three branches in Pune, Delhi and Mumbai where all operations will use technology and there would be minimal employee intervention, Bhattacharya said.