Punjab and Sind Bank profit jumps 35.47%

Government-owned Punjab and Sind Bank reported a 35.47 per cent increase in net profit for the second quarter of the current fiscal. The net profit rose to Rs 147.76 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 from Rs 109.07 crore from the year ago period.

The total business of the bank stood at Rs 1,02,982.88 crore for the half year ended on September 30 against Rs 88,841.06 crore in the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 15.92 per cent on a year on year basis.

Net NPA of the Punjab and Sind Bank stood at Rs 297.46 crore as on September 30 against Rs 155.90 crore on the year ago period. The net NPA ratio was 0.71 per cent.

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No savings bank rate hike for now, says SBI chief

The State Bank of India Chairman, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, on Tuesday ruled out any immediate increase in its savings bank account rate, saying that the largest Indian bank is confident of the people’s continuing trust in the various facilities being provided to them by SBI.

“No major bank has increased the interest rates on deposits in SB accounts. Those who have done it are not big ones,” he told reporters after the annual conference of SBI’s Chief General Managers (CGMs) here, when asked whether SBI plans to increase the rates in the wake of deregulation of rates by the RBI in the second quarter monetary policy review last week.

Three private sector lenders — YES Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank — have increased the interest rates on SB deposits by up to 200 basis points over the last few days.

Replying to a question, Mr Chaudhuri said the Government is committed to infuse capital in SBI by March 2012 and take a decision on the kind of recapitalisation needed. “It is in the process in the Finance Ministry.”

The SBI chief said it was difficult to predict whether rate hikes would curb inflation. The RBI is targeting to bring it down to 7 per cent by March 2012. If that happens, the central bank could possibly halt any further hike, he added.

Asked about home loan tenures, he said since the average life of a new house is seen as 30 years, SBI is considering increasing tenure of home loans to up to 30 years.

He said there was no deceleration seen in the individual home loan accounts and, in particular, the demand was robust in the premium segment. But there is stress in some sectors of economy such as agriculture, textiles, engineering and SMEs. “Any slowdown in core industries is not good for favourable collection," he said.

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Karur Vysya Bank net up 10% to Rs 113 cr

Karur Vysya Bank's net profit rose 10.44 per cent for the quarter ended September to Rs 113.31 crore compared with Rs 102.60 crore achieved during the corresponding quarter of the earlier fiscal.

Its operating profit increased 8.7 per cent to Rs 157.67 crore (Rs 145.07 crore) consequent to a 24.27 per cent increase in its net interest income to Rs 216.47 crore (Rs 174.19 crore).

Interest income was up 49 per cent to Rs 772.05 crore (Rs 518.38 crore).

The bank's year-on-year net profit increased by 23 per cent to Rs 230.01 crore against Rs187.08 crore during the corresponding first half of the earlier fiscal

With deposits up by 28 per cent at Rs 27,121 crore and advances by 32 per cent to Rs 20,216 crore, the bank's business mix crossed the Rs 47,000-crore mark. The bank is aiming to reach a business level of Rs 55,000 crore by end March 2012.

Its gross NPA fell from 1.55 per cent in the first half of the last fiscal to 1.48 per cent.

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PNB profit grows 12% in Q2 despite higher provisioning

Punjab National Bank has reported a 12.1 per cent increase in net profit during the quarter-ended September 30.

Announcing the results on Tuesday, Mr K.R. Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director of PNB, said even after high provisioning for various loan accounts, profits rose to Rs 1,205 crore during the second quarter from Rs 1,075 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

The bank managed to record a total business of Rs 5,90,803 crore, showing a year-on-year increase of 22.5 per cent.

The bank's net interest margin declined from 4.06 per cent to 3.95 per cent. This was mainly because of the cost of deposits going up from 4.96 per cent to 6.52 per cent.

Interestingly, the total interest amount paid on deposits and borrowings grew by 58.09 per cent, while interest earned on advances, investment, balance with Reserve Bank, inter-bank lending and others rose by 38.67 per cent.

However, PNB's net non-performing assets (NPAs) increased by 46.53 per cent to Rs 2,088.77 crore during the first six months of this fiscal. But, the proportion of total advances increased to 0.84 per cent from 0.69 per cent.

On hike in interest rate on savings bank account, the bank said it would take a decision only after assessing the market's response to such moves by private banks.

Mr Kamath said that the bank's asset liability committee would take a call on increasing the interest rate. No date has yet been fixed for the meeting, he added.

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Canara Bank net slips 15% on rise in NPAs

A spurt in non-performing assets ( NPAs) due to 100 per cent implementation of system-based NPA identification caused a 15 per cent dent in Canara Bank's net profit for the second quarter of this fiscal. The bank's net profit stood at Rs 852.22 crore compared with Rs 1,007.88 crore recorded during the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

“A major cleaning exercise was done comfortably and comprehensively. We are now in a position to produce much better results in the next two quarters, as we would not have the weight of hidden NPAs in smaller accounts,” said Mr S. Raman, Chairman and Managing Director, Canara Bank.

Though the bank made cash recoveries of Rs 808 crore during the quarter, it added net NPAs of Rs 187 crore too. This year so far, the bank's slippages are at Rs 2,500 crore, and “we are confident NPA slippages will not be much different from the last year despite smaller accounts coming into NPAs,” he said. The bank hopes to recover over Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal.

The net interest income of the bank was also marginally down due to reversal of income of Rs 120 crore during the quarter.

The banking system is witnessing a “silent liquidity overhang” due to which net interest margins are under pressure, Mr Raman pointed out. “The NIM scenario was a lot different over the last fiscal. In June, our NIM was 2.42 per cent, and now it is 2.64 per cent. We hope to substantially improve our NIM in the next two quarters, and our target is 2.75-2.8 per cent for the fiscal,” he said.

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