Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) today reported a 61.9 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 317.04 crore for the January-March quarter of 2009-10, compared with Rs 195.82 crore in the year-ago period. Total income increased from Rs 2,689.38 crore in the fourth quarter last year to Rs 2,950 crore in the corresponding period this year.
Operating profit reached Rs 776.92 crore, up 44.33 per cent. Net interest income during the quarter touched Rs 989.37 crore, rising 114.94 per cent. Net interest margin also increased to 3.27 per cent, compared with 1.87 per cent at the end of March 2009.
For 2009-10, led by an increase in interest income and fee-based income, its net profit jumped 25.32 per cent to Rs 1,134.68 crore, compared with Rs 905.42 crore in the previous year.
The Delhi-based bank saw its total income rising to Rs 11,457 crore, compared with Rs 9,927 crore in 2008-09. Operating profit jumped to Rs 2,421.5 crore, up 43.71 per cent. Net interest income for the year grew over 43 per cent.
It registered 22.25 per cent growth in deposits and 21.89 per cent rise in advances in 2009-10. In the current year, it is expecting deposits and advances to grow by 30 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.
“We expect around 20 per cent profit growth during the current financial year too. We expect a business growth of 25 per cent,” OBC Chairman and Managing Director TY Prabhu told a press conference after declaring the results.
The bank’s recorded a total business of over Rs 2 lakh crore in 2009-10 and its client base crossed 13.5 million. It has a network of 1,500 branches and 1,000 automated teller machines. It is planning to open 175 branches in the current year, while the customer base is expected to reach 16 million by the end of March 2011.
The board proposed a dividend of Rs 9.10 per share for 2009-10.
On interest rates, Prabhu said interest rates were unlikely to go up till June, as there was enough liquidity in the system.
On the banks plans to raise capital, he said, OBC had headroom to raise capital under both Tier-I (Rs 2,000 crore) and Tier-II (Rs 5,000 crore) and that a decision in this regard would be taken after May.
