Centurion BoP posts Rs 23 cr profit

Centurion Bank of Punjab's net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 stood at Rs 23.27 crore.

The results of the new-generation private sector bank are not comparable to the corresponding quarter of the preceding fiscal as it is the first quarter of the new merged entity.

In the October-December quarter of 2005, total income was reported at Rs 267.32 crore. Total expenditure stood at Rs 232.45 crore. Operating expenses of Centurion bank of Punjab aggregated to Rs 128.77 crore in the reporting quarter.

For the quarter under review, net interest income was Rs 104.5 crore with the net interest margin at 4.8 per cent. Non-interest income now forms 36 per cent of the bank's total operating income.

Bulk of the bank's loans and advances come from retail portfolio, said managing director Shailendra Bhandari. As of December 31, 2005, retail advances constituted 71 per cent of the total advances, which was Rs 5694.8 crore. Net retail advances stood at Rs 4058.2 crore.

"With our expanded network and customer base, we expect to further strengthen as we realise the synergies of the merger with 'Bank of Punjab'," said Bhandari.

After the acquisition of Bank of Punjab, the bank has been leveraging on its SME portfolio, which is growing at 3-4 per cent rate. The bank expects the retail and SME to be the main growth engines for the next quarter.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio for the reporting quarter stood at 10.22 per cent, which does not include the proposed Rs 384 crore that will be raised through a preferential allotment. Net NPAs stood at 2.6 per cent for the quarter under review.

At BSE, the Centurion bank of Punjab shares rose by 0.68 per cent to close at Rs 22.25.