SBT profit rises 7.6% to Rs 122 cr

State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has posted a net profit of Rs 122 crore for the second quarter of this year, as against Rs 113 crore in the same period of last year, a growth of 7.6 per cent. The profit before tax for the quarter increased marginally to Rs 180 crore from Rs 179 crore.

The bank earned a net profit of Rs 302 crore for the half-year ended September 30 as against Rs. 154.95 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year, a growth of 94.96 per cent. The profit before tax went up by 76.7 per cent during this period to touch Rs 437.44 crore, said A K Jagannathan, managing director. The net interest income increased by 14 per cent to Rs 646 crore (Rs 567 crore). The higher profit of Rs 49 crore from treasury operations against Rs 12 crore in the earlier period was the major reason for the sharp increase in net profit, he added.

The earnings per share touched Rs. 60.42, as against Rs.30.99 (for face value of Rs 10) last year. The return on equity improved to 27.5 per cent from 18.12 per cent a year earlier. The cost of deposits has come down to 6.22 per cent [earlier 6.39). The current account and savings bank deposits (Casa) went up by 180 basis points, year-on-year, and stood at 31.86 per cent. The net interest margin stood at 2.73 per cent.

The total business of the bank increased by Rs. 11,448 crore, (16.58 per cent) year-on-year and stood at Rs 80,459 crore.

Total deposits grew by Rs 6,868 crore (17.76 per cent year on year) during the period to touch Rs. 45,534 crore.

Total advances recorded a growth of 15.09 per cent y-o-y (Rs 4,580 crore) to reach Rs 34,925 crore.

The ratio of gross non-performing assets to the total were brought down from 2.07 per cent to 1.83 per cent and of Net NPAs from 1.2 per cent as of September 2008 to 0.86 per cent as of the end of September 2009.

During the half-year, the Bank opened six new branches, taking the total number to 731. The Bank has applied to RBI for authorisation to open 70 more branches in the next year. Further, 104 new ATMs were installed during the half-year. SBT proposes to open 336 ATMs during 2009-10, reaching the total to 900.