Idbi Net Up At Rs 182 Crore In March Quarter

Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has reported a 23.75 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 182.02 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2002 as against Rs 147.08 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

However, in 2001-02, the institution's bottomline declined by 38.63 per cent to Rs 424 crore (Rs 691 crore in 2000-01) on the back of it resorting to accelerated write-off of Rs 2,500 crore against special reserves. The bad and doubtful debts/investments written off/ provided for stood at Rs 773 crore (Rs 993 crore).

The board has proposed a dividend of 15 per cent (Rs 1.50 per share) on the equity capital.

"In the last financial year, there was one-time a capital gain of about Rs 260 crore on account of sale of our 51 per cent stake in Sidbi. If this is excluded then our performance in 2001-02 and the previous year are comparable," P P Vora, chairman and managing director, said at a press meet.

Referring to the accelerated write-offs, P P Vora, chairman and managing director said : "The year gone by was an year of consolidation and cleaning up. While 901 non-performing assets (NPAs) have gone out of our books, 552 accounts remain under the NPA category."

IDBI's sanctions declined by 44.15 per cent to Rs 16,034.0 crore (Rs 28,710 crore in 2000-01) and disbursements were also down by 36.24 per cent to Rs 11,157.9 crore (Rs 17,500 crore). "We are laying stress on asset quality rather than blind growth. The slowdown in sanctions and disbursements reflects IDBI's strategy to be selective in accepting new business," averred the IDBI chief.

Net NPAs as on March-end 2002 stood at Rs 6,500 crore (Rs 8,370 crore as at March-end 2001) and gross NPAs stood at Rs 11768 crore (Rs 10879 crore). Total NPAs as a proportion of total loan assets came down to 11.69 per cent as against 14.8 per cent.

The financial institution's capital adequacy ratio as at March-end 2002 stood at 17.86 per cent (15.8 per cent as at March-end 2001) as against the regulatory requirement of nine per cent.

According to a senior IDBI official, the FI, which recently raised a syndicated loan (external commercial borrowing) of $100 million ($ 75 million plus $25 million greenshoe option) at Libor-plus 90 basis points, was planning to raise a 20 year $100 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. The FI has already raised a similar amount from the bank in the last FY.