Corp Bank plans hi-tech products

The board of directors of the bank have approved a dividend of 65 per cent for 2004-2005, including an interim dividend of 30 per cent already paid as against 60 per cent paid in 2003-2004.

The total business of the bank which was Rs 37,080 crore as on March 31, 2004, improved to Rs 45,780 crore as on March 31, 2005, registering a growth of 23.46 per cent.

The aggregate deposits during the period registered an absolute growth of Rs 4,042 crore i.e. 17.43 per cent over the year. Of the total deposits of Rs 27,233 crore, demand deposits grew by Rs 1,536 crore at the rate of 19.49 per cent and stood at Rs 9,419 crore. The share of demand deposits in total deposit improved from 33.99 per cent to 34.59 per cent during the year.

The net advances of the bank improved from Rs 13,890 crore to Rs 18,546 crore during the period, a growth of Rs 4,656 crore i.e. 33.52 per cent.

The credit deposit ratio too improved from 59.89 per cent as on March 31, 2004 to 68.10 per cent upto March 31, 2005. The retail lending rose from Rs 3,954 crore to Rs 5,750 crore, registering a growth of 45 per cent.

The aggregate investments of the bank stood at Rs 10,261 crore, as against Rs 10,685 crore in the previous year. The bank's net worth, which was Rs 2,769 crore as on March 31, 2004 improved to Rs 3,055 crore as on March 31, 2005.

The capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.23 per cent as at the end of March, 2005. The bank is comfortably positioned to meet Basel II norms and to facilitate a faster asset growth.

The income of the bank improved to Rs 2,814 crore during the year. While the interest income has improved from Rs 2,201 crore to Rs 2,250 crore, the non-interest income showed a growth of 9.25 per cent on account of declining treasury income. The non-interest income under core areas, however, registered a growth of 31 per cent.

While the cost of deposits was brought down from 5.49 per cent as in March 2004 to 4.54 per cent as in March 2005, the yield on advances came down from 9.02 per cent to 8.42 per cent during the year.

The return on assets as on March 31, 2005 stood at 1.40 per cent. While the return on equity stood at 13.16 per cent, the book value per share improved from Rs 193.02 to Rs 212.98.

The bank effected a cash recovery of Rs 148 crore during the year as against Rs 108 crore in the previous year and upgraded the NPAs valued at Rs 58 crore to the performing assets category.

While the gross NPA of the bank has fallen substantially from 5.03 per cent to 3.41 per cent, the net NPA of the bank which was 1.80 per cent as on March 31, 2004, has come down to 1.12 per cent as on March 31, 2005.

The business per employee increased from Rs 3.65 crore to Rs 4.47 crore. The business per branch improved from Rs 45.21 crore to Rs 49.71 crore.

The bank opened 55 branches during the year taking the number of branches to 777. Besides, the bank extended its ATM network by putting in place 141 additional ATMs during the year, taking the number of ATMs to 801.

All the branches of the bank have been computerised. The bank has brought 366 branches under CBS Network (core banking solution), bringing 55 per cent of the bank's business under core banking. The bank endeavours to bring over 90 per cent of the business under core banking environment in 2005-2006.