UBI's turnover at Rs 59,808 cr, net profit up

Kolkata, Apr 26: United Bank of India has reported a total business of Rs 59,808 crore in 2006-07 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year at Rs 37,167 crore, registering a growth of 32.3 per cent.

Announcing the financial results of the bank after the board meeting here today, UBI CMD P K Gupta said the bank could achieve the turnover due to credits and deposits, both of which grew substantially.

The advances in 2006-07 rose to Rs 22,641 crore from Rs 15,963 crore in the same period in the previous year, registering a growth of 41.8 per cent. On the deposits front, the bank has also registered a growth of 27.1 per cent at Rs 37,167 crore.

The net profit was registered at Rs 267.28 crore compared to Rs 204.57 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year, reporting a growth of 30.7 per cent.

The bank has also increased primary sector advances in 2006-07 yielding good resluts. This sector has shown a healthy growth of 32.3 per cent at Rs 9,405 crore. The agriculture advance has gone up by 16.6 per cent at Rs 2713 crore. The bank's credit SSI has also witnessed a growth of 21.3 per cent at Rs 1581 crore while the retail credit was also a major growth driver. The retail credit has increased by 48 per cent at Rs 4536 crore compared to Rs 2833 crore in the previous year.

Ruling out the capital restructuring proposal and IPO, Mr Gupta said the bank would not go for IPO to raise money from the market. '' The fiscal that ended on March 31, the bank's Capital Adequacy Ratio(CAR) was at 12.02 per cent. We will take Tier 2 capital of Rs 800 crore to meet its capital requirements instead of going to the market.'' The Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) has also moved to 60.9 per cent from 54.6 per cent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

Talking about NPA, he said the asset quality of the bank has improved. The gross NPA ratio has declined to 1.50 per cent from 1.95 per cent in the corresponding period previous year.

The bank has also sold 17 non-performing assets with a book value of Rs 75.37 crore.

Mr Gupta also mentioned that the bank would give more focus on non-interest income by starting cash management and depository services besides distribution through third party products.

The bank has also increased its investment to Rs 15135 crore compared to Rs 604 crore in the previous fiscal.

In the fourth quarter of 2006-07, the bank registered a net profit of Rs 35.44 crore compared to Rs 29.15 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year.

UNI