Canara Bank Q4 net profit down 30 pc at Rs 503 cr

Likewise, total income was virtually flat rising to Rs 5,506.72 crore for quarter ended March 31, 2010 compared to Rs 5,500.35 crore during same period in previous fiscal contributed mainly from interest income from loans and advances.

Briefing reporters, Chairman & Managing Director A C Mahajan attributed the sharp fall in Q4 net profit to high provisioning made to the tune of Rs 927 crore rise of 67.3 per cent year-on-year over previous fiscal same period quarter of Rs 554 crore towards non-performing assets and for write-back of investments. The net profit was also lower due to lesser trading, he said pointing out that trading profit was down by 67.3 per cent from Rs 349 crore in the previous fiscal same period quarter to Rs 114 crore in the reporting quarter.

The bank, though, he said, was able to reduce total expenses by 3.6 per cent from Rs 4,228 crore in previous fiscal’s quarter to Rs 4,076 core in reporting quarter of which operating expenses saw dip of 0.23 per cent at Rs 877 crore (Rs 879 crore previous). Its net interest income was up 22.4 per cent at Rs 1,598 crore (Rs 1,305 crore previous) while cost-income ratio declined by 285 basis points at Rs 38.01 crore (Rs 40.86 crore previous).

For year ended March 31, 2010, the bank, however, posted a handsome 45.8 per cent growth in net profit of Rs 3,021.43 crore compared to Rs 2,072.42 crore in last fiscal. Likewise, it reported a total income of Rs 21,609.86 crore for fiscal ended March 31, 2010 compared to Rs 19,430.27 crore in previous financial year registering growth of 11.2 per cent.

Total business
Total business rose by 24.3 per cent to Rs 4,03,986 crore from Rs 3,25,112 crore in 2008-09, with deposits and advances growing to Rs 2,34,651 crore, and Rs 1,69,335 crore, growth of 25.6 per cent and 22.5 per cent, respectively.

During fiscal 2009-10, the bank made total provision of Rs 2,039 crore which includes provision of Rs 1,408 crore towards NPA, Mahajan said. While growth in total expenses for the fiscal was contained at 7 per cent, he said operating expenses grew 13.5 per cent on account of provision for wage revision.

The bank’s net interest income during fiscal ended 2010 improved to Rs 5,681 crore with growth of 20.4 per cent compared to Rs 4,718 crore as at March 2009. This, Mahajan said, could be done by maintaining the spread by increasing focus on core business growth and containing cost.  The bank announced dividend of 100 per cent, amounting to Rs 410 crore. During 2010-11, the bank aims at reaching aggregate business of Rs 5 lakh crore.