CBP net profit rises 8 per cent

Centurion Bank of Punjab's net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 rose by 8 per cent to Rs 28.01 crore from Rs 26.04 crore in the previous quarter.

The bank's profit for the year ended March 31, 2007, increased by 38 per cent to Rs 121.38 crore from Rs 87.80 crore in the previous year. The bank has provided Rs 31.67 crore provisioning for standard assets.

The bank's net interest margin stood at 4.38 per cent in the quarter ended March 2007 against 5.07 per cent in the previous quarter. The bank has seen a 19 per cent growth in the corporate and SME portfolio and retail portfolio.

``The advances growth for the system as a whole is expected to slow down to 20 per cent hence we could see a marginal dip in growth. The net interest income is expected to remain under pressure for one or two quarters,'' said Anil Jaggia, chief operating officer, Centurion Bank of Punjab.

During the current quarter, the bank has assessed the delinquency level on its retail assets portfolio and changed its estimate of accelerated provisioning on two wheeler loans, personal loans, car loans and commercial vehicles/construction equipment loans.

The bank following an accelerated provision policy on its retail assets portfolio and carried a provision of Rs 51.36 crore (including floating provision of Rs.27.84 crore) in excess of the RBI prudential norms.

The bank's non performing assets for the quarter rose to 1.26 per cent from 1.13 per cent. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.1 per cent.

The bank is awaiting Reserve Bank of India approval to raise Rs 233 crore by ways of preferencial allotment to Bank Muscat.

It is also planning to raise capital through tier II issues. The bank has received board approval to raise Rs 700 crore through tier II issues.