PNB records impressive growth in Kerala

Kozhikode, Aug 1: Reflecting an impressive growth in Kerala region, the public sector commercial banking major Punjab National Bank (PNB) has achieved a net profit of Rs 7.18 crore over a total business of Rs 2,633 during the quarter ended June 2007.

This was against the net profit of Rs 3.87 crore over a total business of Rs 2,200 crore registered in the region during the corresponding period last year, PNB Zonal Manager Krishnan Ramiah told to newspersons here last night.

The deposit during the period stood at Rs 1,441 crore and credit at Rs 1,192 crore, he said.

As part of its corporate policy, the bank was concentrating on low cost deposits aimed at controlling lending rates in consonance with RBI and the government policy to curtail inflation, he added.

He said the priority sector advances of the bank also improved from Rs 573 crore in June 2006 to Rs 721 crore in June 2007 with an annul growth rate of 26 per cent.

Its priority sector advances stood at 60 per cent of the Net Bank Credit in the zone which compares favourably with the national goal of 40 per cent, Mr Ramiah said.

He said 79 branches out of the total network of 131 in the state were already on core banking connectivity forming part of the PNB's networked chain of 2,526 branches located in 764 towns and cities in the country.

As part of its future plans, the bank was planning to facilitate educational loans to at least 10,000 students during the current financial year, he said.

The bank had installed toll free phone 1800-425-7733 for providing information regarding various schemes and products to the clientele in the state.

At the national level, the PNB had recorded a net profit of 16 per cent over a total business of Rs 2,38,249 crore, registering an year-on-year growth of 22 per cent. The composition of business by way of deposits was Rs 1,42,609 crore and advances at Rs 95,640 crore, he added.

UNI