New private sector banks clock highest income growth: D&B

& Dun & Bradstreet releases second edition of 'India's Top Banks 2008'

New Delhi, March 12, 2008: Dun & Bradstreet, the world's leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, today, released its study on 'India's Top Banks 2008'. The study profiles 80 scheduled commercial banks, comprising of 28 public sector banks, 23 private and 29 foreign banks, listed on parameters such as Total Income, Net Profit, Branches, Employees, Assets and ATMs.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Manoj Vaish, President & CEO - India, Dun & Bradstreet said, "FY07 has been another year of rapid growth for Indian banking. The 80 banks profiled in the study, together reported a y-o-y growth of 24.3% in assets and 24.6% in deposits. The income of the New Private Sector banks grew at 55%, the highest among the bank-groups. Further, the New Private Sector banks reported higher growth as against other bank groups, with an average y-o-y growth in assets at 38.7% and Operating Profit at 46.7%."

"Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) reached an all time high of 74% as on Mar 2007. The banks profiled in the study posted a 340 basis point y-o-y growth in aggregate CDR. Interestingly improvement in CDR ratio is primarily driven by public sector banks (PSBs) which reported a 400 basis point rise in CDR. Given the background of strong economic growth and a deepening financial sector, the opportunities for the Indian banking sector are enormous," he added.

The publication was released by Dr K C Chakrabarty, Chairman & Managing Director, Punjab National Bank. Renowned economist, Mr S S Tarapore delivered the key note address on "Formulating monetary policy in the current macroeconomic environment: Not knowing which way the cat will jump". A Panel Discussion on "Indian Banking Industry: How can Indian banks overcome global stagflation?" was hosted by D&B to mark the occasion.

About Dun & Bradstreet's 'India's Top Banks 2008':

The publication India's Top Banks 2008 profiles 80 scheduled commercial banks, comprising of 28 Public Sector Banks (PSBs), 23 Private Sector Banks and 29 Foreign Banks, as enumerated by the Reserve Bank of India. The group of PSBs includes nationalised banks, SBI & Associates and IDBI Ltd. The publication does not include Co-operative Banks and Regional Rural Banks.

The selection of the banks data was based on the RBI enumeration of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) as of Mar 2007, which consists of 80 banks. The information contained in this book is based upon the financial year ending Mar 07. The information has been primarily sourced and compiled from questionnaires circulated and administered by D&B India to the banks, and/or as provided by the Reserve Bank of India in its various publications, and/or in the bank annual reports and websites.

Information related to financials and infrastructure of the banks has been taken purely from various publications provided by the RBI and pertains to Mar 2007.

The Banks profiled have been listed on major parameters such as Total Income,

Net Profit, Branches, Total Employees, Growth in Advances, Growth in Deposits, ATMs etc.

The publication also contains an industry review that presents an analysis on aspects such as growth, profitability etc., and a brief section on insights on banking drawn from recent developments and emerging trends in Indian banking.

Key insights revealed by the study:

The group of New Private Sector banks dominated the league tables of growth, as against the average of other bank groups, with an average y-o-y growth in Assets at 38.7%, for Deposits at 38.8%, Advances at 39.9% and Operating Profit at 46.7%.

The group of Old Private Sector banks (refer to annexure) showed relatively lower growth in business. The annual growth rate for this group for FY07 stood at 7.1% in Assets, 6% in Deposits and 12% in Advances. However, this group fared better in Net profit, which grew by 30%. All bank groups reported a capital adequacy ratio of more than 12%.

The ratio of standard assets was highest in the case of Foreign Banks and New Private Sector banks at 98.1% each, followed by 97.3% in Public Sector banks and 96.9% in Old Private Sector banks. The ratio of Net NPAs to Total Assets was 0.6% in public sector and Old Private Sector banks, 0.5% in New Private Sector banks and 0.3% in Foreign banks.

Public sector banks accounted for 74% of the total deposits, 73% of total advances and 64% of the aggregate net profits, amongst SCBs. The share of the New Private Sector banks in these three areas was in the range of 15-17%. Credit Deposit Ratio of these bank groups was between 67-84%

There has been a sizeable increase in the banking infrastructure. Banks in India together have 56,640 branches/offices, 893,356 employees and 27,088 ATMs. Public sector banks accounted for a large part of the infrastructure, with 87.7% of all offices, 82% of the staff and 60.3% of all ATMs.

About Dun & Bradstreet (D&B):

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB), the world's leading source of global business information, knowledge and insight, has been enabling companies to Decide with Confidence® for 165 years. D&B's global commercial database contains more than 100 million business records. The database is enhanced by D&B's proprietary DUNSRight® Quality Process, which transforms the enormous amount of data collected daily into decision-ready insight.

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