Syndicate Bank profit up 11% at Rs 181 cr

The Manipal-based Syndicate Bank has registered 11 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 181 crore for the quarter-ended June 30, 2006 compared with Rs 163 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The operating profit, however, went up by just 4 per cent at Rs 302 crore compared with Rs 296 crore during the same period last year.

"The considerable growth has enabled the bank to record an overall income of Rs 1,365 crore for the quarter, up 25 per cent compared with Rs 1,096 crore in the same period last year. The interest income for the quarter improved to Rs 1,231 crore from Rs 953 crore during the first quarter last year, Swarnkar said," said C P Swarnkar, CMD, Syndicate Bank.

The bank's total business crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark during the quarter and touched Rs 1,05,143 crore Compared with Rs 72,165 crore as on June 30, 2005, registering a growth of 46 per cent, said Swarnkar.

"Our thrust will be on increasing the customer base and add more low-cost deposits during the year. We plan to increase the customer base by 2 million during the full year," he said.

The bank's total deposits grew 47 per cent and reached Rs 63,829 crore as on June 30, 2006 from Rs 43,449 crore as on June 30, 2005, a growth of 19 per cent.

The low-cost deposits (savings and current account) increased by 23 per cent to Rs 20,374 crore during the quarter from Rs 16,602 crore in the same period last year.

The bank's gross advances grew 44 per cent from Rs 28,716 crore as on June 30, 2005 to Rs 41,314 crore in the Q1 of FY07.

The bank's non-performing assets have come down to 0.86 per cent in the quarter from 1.54 per cent in Q1 last year. The bank now has total NPAs of Rs 592 crore.

During the first quarter, the bank made a cash recovery of Rs 111 crore. It has provided Rs 96 crore towards provision and contingencies during the first quarter, up from Rs 83.60 crore during the same period last year.

The government holding in the bank now stands at 66.47 per cent, down from 73.52 per cent in the Q1 of last year. During the third week of July the bank raised Rs 620 crore at a coupon rate of 9.35 per cent on a tenure of 10 years to augment its tier-II capital.