Dena Bank posts net profit of Rs 158 crore

Mumbai, Jan 19: The public sector Dena Bank today posted a net profit of Rs 70.53 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 as compared to Rs 83.18 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, showing a decline of 15.21 per cent.

Announcing the Q3 results at a press conference here today, the Bank Chairman &Managing Director G L Gairola attributed the decline in the Q3 net profit owing to higher provisions.

However, the Bank's CMD maintained that the operating profit for the quarter under review increased by 6.33 per cent to Rs 215.87 crore as compared Rs 203.01 crore in the quarter ended December 2005 despite decline in profit on sale of securities by Rs 43.50 crore from Rs 56.12 crore in December-05 to Rs 12.62 crore in December-06.

The positive side, Mr Gairola continued, is that the net profit for 9-months period jumped to Rs 157.77 crore as against a loss of Rs 57.48 crore for the same period during the previous fiscal.

Further, he said the total income has increased from Rs 602.27 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 to Rs 693.46 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006.

Replying to a question, Mr Gairola said the capital adequacy ratio of the Bank stood at 12.04 per cent in December 2006 as against 9.82 per cent in December 2005 and 10.62 per cent in March 2006.

UNI