Canara Bank Q4 profit rises 55%

Bangalore-based public sector lender Canara Bank today reported 55 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 718.81 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009 compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Its total income for the period rose by 22 per cent to Rs 5,500 crore compared to the same period last year.

The bank reported 35.5 per cent jump in its operating profit at Rs 1,272.59 crore compared to the same period a year ago. The rise in net profit was mainly on account of a huge rise of 41.05 per cent in its net interest income to Rs 1,305.33 crore compared to the same quarter last year. An increase of 18.5 per cent rise in other income which stood at Rs 864.47 crore also contributed to the profit growth.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio has gone up to 14.10 per cent during the fourth quarter as against 13.25 per cent in the year ago period. Its net non-performing assets ratio stood at 1.09 per cent as compared to 0.84 per cent in the year ago period.

Return on assets (annualized) of the bank for the fourth quarter rose from 1.09 per cent in March 2008 to 1.47 per cent in March 2009. The earnings per share (not annualized) during the quarter ended March 2009 stood at Rs 17.53 compared to Rs 11.32 in the same period last year.

For the full year ended March 2009, the bank’s net profit went up by 32.42 per cent to Rs 2,072.42 crore compared to the previous year. The total income for the year went up by 18.37 per cent to Rs 19,430.27 crore compared to the previous year.