TMB likely to have board of directors by March
Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has reported a 59 per cent jump in its net profit for the nine months ended December 2008 at Rs 113.52 crore despite not having a board of directors during the period.
The bank had to postpone its 86th annual general meeting, which was scheduled on September 2008. A senior executive in TMB said that the new board of directors will be formed by March 2009, following a directive from the Supreme Court issued on December 6, 2008.
The executive said that decisions on the bank’s initial public offering and recruitment of over 600 people were pending since it requires the approval of the board of directors.
And the current board consisting TMB Managing Director G Narayana Moorthy and two Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nominees are authorised only to take operational decisions and not policy decisions, including the IPO and bonus issue.
The bank’s total business for the nine-month period grew by 28.44 per cent to Rs 14,562.87 crore as against Rs 11,338.46 crore in the year-ago period. Gross profit stood at Rs 200.02 crore as against Rs 130.12 crore.
The executive said that the bank could have performed better if the investment and recruitment plans were in place.
It may be recalled that 29 candidates had contested in the elections held on June 5, 2008, to select 10 directors to the board. Nadar Mahajana Sangam managed to bag eight out of 13 board berths, edging out the other group led by B Ramachandra Adityan, former executive director of TMB. Of the balance five board seats, three are already occupied by RBI representatives.
The other two seats on the board will depend on the voting rights of the 25 per cent FII stake holders in the bank.