Private Banks Trump Foreign, State Banks

Private banks took the podium in 2000-01, lapping foreign and state-owned banks in terms of profitability.

While the aggregate net profit of 16 private banks have surged by 18.7 per cent during, that of foreign and state-run banks have declined by 1.7 per cent and 18.5 per cent, respectively.

Higher operating expenditure and provisions eroded the net profit of 35 foreign banks operating in the country to Rs 1,039 crore in 2000-01 against Rs 1,057 crore in 1999-2000. Operating expenditure rose by 20 per cent to Rs 3,062 crore, while provisions and contingencies grew sharply by 23 per cent to Rs 1,992 crore.

However, of the 35 foreign banks, nine banks slipped into the red, while eight reported a decline in net profit. The rest registered a decent growth in net profit.

HSBC topped with a net profit growth of 65.2 per cent. Citibank NA stood second with a 13.5 per cent growth.

While the bottomline of Standard Chartered Bank remained steady at Rs 185 crore, Standard Chartered Grindlays (formerly ANZ Grindlays) saw its net profit fall by 51.1 per cent to Rs 88 crore.

Bank of America and ABN Amro too saw their bottomlines hit. The net profit of Bank of America declined by 54.8 per cent, while ABN Amro registered an 8.8 per cent drop in profit.

American Express Bank incurred a Rs 23 crore loss against net profit of Rs 28 crore achieved in the previous year.

Meanwhile, interest income earned by the 35 banks stood at Rs 9,187 crore, registering a growth of 15.5 per cent while interest paid to depositors grew by 16.3 per cent to Rs 5,551 crore.

Fee-based income rose by 20 per cent to Rs 2,457 crore. Deposits received and advances given to customers grew by 20 per cent each. Deposits were at Rs 57,374 crore and advances at Rs 41,719 crore.