Global Trust Net Profit Up 42% To Rs 57.40 Crore
The city-based Global Trust Bank (GTB) has posted a net profit of Rs 57.40 crore for 1996-97, showing a 42 per cent increase over the previous year's Rs 40.36 crore. The bank's board has recommended a 15 per cent dividend against 3 per cent announced in the previous year.
Global Trust CMD Ramesh Gelli said the bank registered a steady growth for the second full year of operation even though 1996-97 was, in many ways, a difficult year for banks.
Gelli said the slowing down of the economy, sluggish growth in the industrial sector, reduced performance of exports and corporates getting on to a sticky wicket, combined with fluid political environment called for repeated renewal of strategies.
Despite this gloomy scenario, Global Trust's deposits grew from Rs 1,324 crore in March 1996 to Rs 2,279 crore, a growth of 70 per cent, while its lending went up to Rs 1,462 crore from Rs 1,377 crore as of March 31, 1996. The assets of the bank stood at Rs 2,651 crore.
Gelli admitted a steep fall in the bank's credit-deposit ratio from 104 per cent to 64.15 per cent, but attributed this to the slashing down of export finance from 45 per cent to 25 per cent.
He announced that the earlier proposal to raise Rs 40 crore for Tier-II capital has been pared to Rs 20 crore because with the first tranche of Rs 20 crore, the bank felt comfortable having attained a capital adequacy of 10 per cent. Gelli said the treasury operations of the bank in Mumbai became an important player during 1996-97, both in money and foreign exchange markets.
The total merchant turnover in the year was Rs 4,200 crore and trading was done at multiples of the same. The investment banking division actively participated in the formation of depositories and later itself became a depository participant. Gelli also announced that Krishna Palepu, a young professor at Harvard University, has joined the board of Global Trust and his specialisation in finance and strategy will benefit the bank immensely.