IOB bottomline grows 28% to Rs 320 crore

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) saw its profit rise 28 per cent in the second quarter ended September 30, 2007, to Rs 319.70 crore despite higher expenditure. It recorded a net profit of Rs 249.85 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

Even in the face of higher expenditure of Rs 1,646.75 crore (Rs 1,109.33 crore) during the quarter, operating profit grew 28 per cent to Rs 458.03 crore from Rs 359.20 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

The bank's net interest on advances during the quarter spurted 39 per cent to Rs 1,305.89 crore from Rs 939.22 crore in the year-ago period. Income from investments showed a strong 44 per cent rise to Rs 567.45 crore compared with Rs 394.48 crore on a y-o-y basis.

Gross NPA during the period declined 12 per cent to Rs 1,077.02 crore from Rs 1,219.23 crore a year earlier. Net NPA showed a steep 23 per cent fall to Rs 176.64 crore from Rs 229.59 crore. The bank has been successful at bringing down the net NPA from the Rs 250-crore plus levels of March 31 this year.

Capital adequacy ratio for the September quarter was 13.31 per cent compared to 14.66 per cent y-o-y. Average Return on Assets was 1.34 per cent as against 1.45 per cent last year.

As of September 2007, its total business grew 32.06 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,29,628.48 crore from Rs 98,159.06 crore. This was driven by strong growth in total deposits and net advances.

Total deposits of the bank increased 37.29 per cent year-on-year to Rs 78,282.83 crore from Rs 57,018.04 crore. Net advances increased 24.80 per cent to Rs 51,345.65 crore from Rs 41,141.02 crore in the year-ago period.