Canara Bank Q1 earnings up 1.86 per cent, at Rs 806.86 crore

Canara Bank today reported a marginal 1.86 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 806.86 crore in the first quarter ended June 30 on higher provisioning.The total income of the city-headquartered bank rose to Rs 11,728.01 crore during the quarter under review.

The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 792.07 crore during the corresponding period last year, with a total income of Rs 10,507.88 crore.

Bank's Gross NPA (Non Performing Assets) ratio was down to 2.67 per cent from 2.91 per cent as on June 2013, while its Net NPA ratio was down to 2.03 per cent from 2.48 per cent as on June 2013.

Canara bank's core fee income (excluding treasury profit) was up by 18 per cent to Rs 936 crore from Rs 795 crore last year.

"In the last eight quarters we never crossed Rs 800 crore," Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director RK Dubey told reporters in Bangalore.

On the reason for just about 2 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit, he said: "It could have gone down also, but we have made enough provisions... (it) has crossed Rs 1,000 crore, last year provision was much less...".

The provision coverage ratio increased to 60.10 per cent from 58.18 per cent last year, Dubey added.

Stating that total deposits were up by 12.3 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4.29 lakh crore, Dubey said "CASA ratio (domestic) is at 24.15 per cent, (the) same level as last year." Net advances of the bank were up by 21.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3.03 lakh crore, he added.

Officials said 255 branches and 197 ATMs were added during the quarter, taking a total to 5,010 branches and 6,509 ATMs.

Sharing the goals for FY 15, officials said the bank aimed to reach an aggregate business figure of over Rs 8,00,000 crore, with the total number of branches to above 6,000 and number of ATMs to 10,000 by March 2015. They said  that the bank had received RBI's approval for opening three more branches in the UK.

Further, the bank plans to open branches at DFC in Dubai and at Frankfurt in Germany. Additionally, it plans to open subsidiaries in Brazil and Tanzania, along with a representative office in Japan during the year.

Stating that the thrust was on improving operational financial ratios, officials said the bank for a gross NPA of around 2 per cent and net NPA of around 1.5 per cent.

Responding to a question on the Rs 3,000 crore QIP (qualified institutional placement) plans, the bank's Executive Director A K Gupta said: "...today we have our AGM (Annual General Meeting)... After finalsing there on the topic, we will probably come out soon in a month's time."