Corporation Bank, the Mangalore-based public sector lender, today reported a 18.6 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 191.51 crore for the second quarter ended September 2008 compared with the corresponding period last financial year. Its total income for the period went up by 30.1 per cent to Rs 1,623.12 crore compared with that in the same period a year ago.
The rise in profit is mainly on account of a robust 34.4 per cent rise in its interest income, which stood at Rs 1,448.75 crore compared with the numbers in the same quarter last year.
The bank’s net interest income for the quarter stood at Rs 406.67 crore, a rise of 10.2 per cent over the figures in the corresponding quarter last year.
The bank was able to contain its employee cost at Rs 96.38 crore, a drop of 24 per cent during the second quarter. The bank’s net profit would have been higher, but for a 31.9 per cent rise in its tax expenses during the quarter, which stood at Rs 104.21 crore as against Rs 79 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. However, the bank’s provisions and contingencies were not much. It made Rs 55.77 crore provisions as against Rs 54.15 crore made in the same period last year.
Corporation Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio for the second quarter slipped to 11.75 per cent as against 13.58 per cent in the same period last year. Its return on assets dropped marginally to 1.20 per cent as against 1.29 per cent in the year-ago period. The bank’s percentage of net non-performing assets were marginally up at 0.40 per cent compared with 0.35 per cent last year. The earnings per share for the second quarter improved to Rs 13.35 from Rs 11.25 in the same period a year ago.
