— Photo: G. R. N. Somashekar

BANKS ON FRESH CAPITAL: Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank, M. B. N. Rao (right), and Executive Director, Alok K. Mishra, at a press conference in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: The net profit of Canara Bank rose marginally by 2.15 per cent to Rs. 190.93 crore for the first quarter of the current fiscal from Rs. 186.90 crore a year earlier as lower trading profit and higher provision on investment depreciation took their toll on the bank's bottomline.

M. B. N. Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, told reporters here on Thursday that the bank had opportunities to make more trading income during the first quarter of the last fiscal as compared to the first quarter of the current fiscal.

The bank had made a profit on sale of investments of Rs. 30.49 crore during the first quarter of 2005-06 while it could make a trading profit of just Rs. 1.07 crore this fiscal so far.

Total income jumped by 24 per cent to Rs. 2,770.95 crore from Rs. 2,238.58 crore. Out of this, interest income grew by 35 per cent to Rs. 1,651.85 crore from Rs. 1,222.35 crore.

The global business of the bank recorded a year-on-year growth of over 29 per cent to reach Rs. 2,03,272 crore from Rs. 1,57,126 crore. Deposits grew by 25 per cent to Rs. 1,22,953 crore while advances rose by 36 per cent to Rs. 80,319 crore. Mr. Rao said that for the first time in recent years, the net NPA of the bank breached the one per cent mark and came down to 0.91 per cent during the quarter from 1.67 per cent. The bank planned to raise Rs. 4,000 crore as capital during the current fiscal, Mr. Rao said. "We will approach the market at an appropriate time to raise the funds," he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail