11 banks' net NPAs fall below 1%

Andhra Bank registers lowest net NPAs at 0.07%.

Public sector banks' gross as well as net non performing assets (NPAs) have declined marginally during the quarter ended June 2006.

Nineteen public sector banks have reduced their net NPAs by Rs 947 crore and gross NPAs by Rs 329 crore during the April-June period compared with the preceding quarter ended in March 2006.

The average net NPA of the listed public sector banks as a percentage of advances has come down from 1.33 per cent to 1.19 per cent during the first quarter of 2006-07. Eleven PSU banks now have less than 1 per cent net NPA.

Andhra Bank has the lowest net NPA to net advances ratio at 0.07 per cent. Six other banks, Bank of Maharashtra, State Bank of India, State Bank of Travancore, Bank of India, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, Union Bank of India, have NPA levels between 1 and 2 per cent.

Five banks have registered marginal rise in net NPAs during the first quarter. For instance, Punjab National Bank recorded 0.35 rise in net NPA from 0.29 per cent, Bank of Baroda from 0.87 per cent to 0.92 per cent; State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur from 1.18 per cent to 1.30 per cent, State Bank of Travancore from 1.47 per cent to 1.50 per cent, and Dena Bank from 3.04 to 3.25 per cent. Dena Bank has the highest net NPA level among all PSU banks.

Three banks, Vijaya Bank, Syndicate Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, have maintained their net NPA level unchanged.

Collectively, the net NPAs of PSU banks have been reduced to Rs 11,012 compared with Rs 11,959 crore a quarter earlier. The gross NPAs, on the other hand, stood at Rs 34,433 crore on June 30, 2006 against Rs 34,761 crore as on March 31.

The gross NPA of State Bank of Mysore has come down by 27 per cent from Rs 398 crore to Rs 292 crore and Bank of India (down 10.07 per cent) from Rs 2,805 crore to Rs 2,522 crore.

State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, on the other hand, has seen its gross NPA going up by 10 per cent, from Rs 389 crore to Rs 428 crore and Bank of Baroda by 6.89 per cent from Rs 2,390 crore to Rs 2,555 crore in the quarter ended June 2006.

Net non-performing assets of Andhra Bank declined from Rs 52 crore to Rs 16 crore and that of Indian Overseas Bank from Rs 224 crore to Rs 177 crore.

Punjab National Bank's net NPA went up from Rs 210 crore to Rs 266 crore and that of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur from Rs 187 crore to Rs 212 crore.