SIB announces 25 pc dividend on record profit

Kochi, Apr 23: The South Indian Bank (SIB) director board has recommended a dividend of 25 per cent on an all-time high net profit of Rs 104.12 crore for the financial year 2006-07, bank chairman V A Joseph said today.

Addressing a press conference here, Dr Joseph said the bank's net profit had jumped up 105 per cent from Rs 50.90 crore during 2005-06.

The bank, headquartered in Thrissur in Kerala, had crossed a total business mark of Rs 20,000 crore and had brought down the net NPA below one per cent.

It had also spread its network to 475 branches, all of which were on-line through core banking solution.

Talking of the targets set for this year, Dr Joseph said the bank aimed to have a business turnover of Rs 25,000 crore during 2007-08 and also to open 25 new branches, including its first branch in Himachal Pradesh.

The other branches would be opened in Bangalore, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata and a few more in Kerala.

He said the South Indian Bank was awaiting RBI clearance to open its representative office in Dubai. The SIB was presently managing a foreign exchange house in Dubai and would take over the management of another in Sharjah on May five.

Stating that retail banking would be the key area of the bank's operations this year, Dr Joseph said there would be a special focus on the youth to increase the bank's client base.

He said retail banking presently accounted for 45 per cent of the SIB's business and the bank was aiming for a five to ten per cent growth in it.

Replying to a question, he said no decision had been taken yet by the bank's committee, set up to consider acquisition of smaller banks. The committee's tenure had been extended by another three months, he added.

Giving details of the performance during 2006-07, Dr Joseph said the bank's total business increased by 25.87 per cent, from Rs 16,324 crore to Rs 20,549 crore. While deposits went up by Rs 2,600 crore to Rs 12,239 crore, advances increased by Rs 1,563 crore to Rs 8,308 crore.

The bank earned a total income of Rs 1080 crore, registering a growth of 29.50 per cent against against Rs 834 crore in the previous year.

Gross NPA had come down from 4.99 per cent to 3.94 per cent and Net NPA was drastically cut from 1.86 per cent to 0.98 per cent.

The capital adquacy ration was being maintained at 11.08 per cent as against the regulatory requirement of nine per cent. Book value per share had increased from Rs 91 to Rs 103, he said.

UNI