Karnataka Bank Q4 net up 40% at Rs 27.5 crore

Bank net profit up 21% for 2003-04; board declares dividend of 40%

Mangalore-based Karnataka Bank Ltd has recorded a net profit of Rs 27.55 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2004, an increase of 40.4 per cent over Rs 19.61 crore in the corresponding quarter ended March 31, 2003.

However, the total income for the quarter under consideration has decreased by 9.3 per cent to Rs 256.07 crore from Rs 282.38 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

For the financial year 2003-04, the bank registered a 21 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 133.32 crore as compared to Rs 110.12 crore in the year before.

The bank's total income for 2003-04 has gone up marginally by 6.4 per cent to Rs 1,118.74 crore from Rs 1,050.70 crore for 2002-03.

The board of directors has recommended a dividend of 40 per cent on the equity shares, subject to RBI approvals. The operating profit of the bank for the year has gone up by Rs 76.42 crore to Rs 329.79 crore.

Karnataka Bank's capital adequacy ratio for 2003-04 stands at 13.03 per cent as against 13.44 for 2002-03. The earnings per share (EPS) too has declined to Rs 32.93 for 2003-04 from Rs 40.83 in 2002-03.

The EPS (not-annualised) for the fourth quarter of 2003-04 is down to Rs 6.80 from Rs 7.27 in the corresponding period of 2002-03.

Ananthakrishna, chairman of Karnataka Bank, said that during the year 2003-04, the bank's interest income as well as non-interest income has shown substantial improvement and the bank has also been able to curtail the non-performing assets (NPAs) to a lower level.

The bank has targeted a business turnover of Rs 17,000 crore for the year 2004-05. He said that the bank would be introducing internet banking, mobile banking during the current year besides expanding its ATM reach through its own network and through tie-ups with other service providers.

The bank is planning to add 20 new branches in select metros and urban centres to take the branch network to 390 by the end of this fiscal, Ananthakrishna said.

Also, a customer care centre is planned to be opened at Bangalore for providing service to customers using ATMs and internet banking channels.

Networking of the branches is being continued in full speed and bank is targeting to cover over 90 per cent of its business under Core Banking Solution by the year 2004-05.