GTB net loss rises 198% to Rs 812.38 cr

Global Trust Bank (GTB) has reported a 197.9 per cent increase in net loss for the financial year ended March 31, 2004.

The bank's net loss for the year stood at Rs 812.38 crore as compared to Rs 272.70 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2003. The accumulated loss for the financial year exceeded the capital, reserves and surplus by Rs 810.10 crore.

Oriental Bank of Commerce, with which GTB is being amalgamated, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has appointed a Kochi-based auditing firm, Varma & Varma to finalise the balance sheet of GTB for the period from 1 April 2004 to July 24, 2004, when the RBI announced the moratorium.

"The valuation of GTB will depend largely on the accounts that Varma & Varma finalise. They have already started their work," banking sources told Business Standard. The accounts for the year ending March 31, 2004 were finalised by a Hyderabad-based firm Bhaskar Rao & Company.

On the business front, the current and savings deposits of the bank grew 28.61 per cent and 30.75 per cent respectively over the previous financial year.

According to a press release from the bank, retail deposits comprised 74 per cent of the total deposits, which was because of the bank acquiring 77,000 new retail customer accounts.

The focus was on the recovery of non performing assets (NPAs) and written off accounts during the financial year under review and the bank was able to recovery an additional Rs 323 crore during the year.

The board of directors of the bank who met here today have finalised the results on a conservative basis in the backdrop of the proposed draft of amalgamation with Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

The total income of the bank for the year dipped 29.5 per cent to Rs 515.25 crore as compared to Rs 730.95 crore it earned during the financial year 2002-03.

The treasury income of the bank fell from Rs 276.74 crore during the financial year 2002-03 to Rs 192.84 crore for the year under review, and income from other banking operations for the year stood at Rs 448.6 crore as compared to Rs 303.18 crore during the previous year.

The press release noted that the loss was on account of provisioning of about Rs 535 crore that had to be made due to weakening of security of earlier NPAs.

The operating loss of the bank stood at Rs 79 crore and Rs 164 crore was provided towards accelerated and prudent provisioning on select items including non-banking assets.

The balance Rs 35 crore was allocated towards other provisions, the release added.

The bank has made provision of Rs 92 crore towards impairment in the value of certain non-banking assets based on independent valuations.

The bank also made a provision of Rs 52 crore towards diminution in the value of an investment permitted to be classified under Held to Maturity.

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