| The bank, total business of which rose to Rs 1,72,939 crore till December 2005, said it was keen to acquire a domestic bank and is also open for overseas acquisitions later. S C Gupta, chairman, however, said there was no concrete proposal in this regard at present. |
| He said increase in net profit during the third quarter was achieved despite decreasing margins and pressure on profitability. |
| However, he noted that the bank's net interest margin had increased to 4.02 per cent in December 2005 from 3.86 per cent. |
| Net profit for the nine-month period ended December 2005 also rose by 10 per cent at Rs 1,150.64 crore compared with Rs 1,049.49 in the corresponding period last year, though it registered a near 1 per cent decline in operating profit for the same period. |
| This was possible due to reduction in cost of deposits (as a result of implementing centralised banking solutions) and improvement in yield on advances, Gupta said. |
| Besides, the bank is also expanding internationally, Gupta said, adding that the bank had received RBI approval for opening office subsidiaries in the UK, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore, which are likely to be operational by July. |
| Asked whether the bank would raise fresh capital, Gupta said it was comfortably placed as regards capital adequacy ratio (13.99 per cent)," he said. |
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