Central Bank registers net profit of 215 crore

Vijayawada, Dec 22 (UNI) The Central Bank of India has registered a net profit of Rs 215 crore for the half-year ended September 30 2006, showing a growth of 99.07 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

A bank release here today said the total business of the bank as on September 30 this year was Rs 1,19,466 crore, an increase of 23.85 per cent on year-on-year basis.

The total deposits in the first half of the current financial year were Rs 76,221 crore and the Non-Performing Assets (NPA) ratio improved to 2.11 per cent by September 30, 2006 as against 2.79 per cent in the corresponding period of 2005-06.

The operating profit of the bank increased by 6.03 per cent from Rs 547 crore to Rs 580 crore during the same period, the release said and added that the agriculture lending had shown an increase of Rs 1,529 crore from Rs 6,090 crore to Rs 7619 crore, registering a growth of 25.11 per cent.

The priority sector advances had shown an increase of Rs 4,141 crore from Rs 15,351 crore to Rs 19,482 crore, showing a growth of 26.99 per cent, the release added.

UNI CS GKT 1708