Our Bureau

Kochi , May 15

THE net profit of the Thrissur-based Dhanalakshmi Bank has grown to Rs 17.48 crore (Rs 15.02 crore) for the year 2003-04. The bank has also made a provision of Rs 8.67 crore towards VRS for its employees.

The total deposits with the bank have grown by 17.3 per cent to touch Rs 2,155.77 crore (Rs 1,837.89 crore). The total business of the bank grew by 12.88 per cent to Rs 3,294.36 crore (Rs 2,918.38 crore).

The bank is actively spreading its activities to rural areas by participating in micro-credit programmes.

Around 3,600 self-help groups are maintaining their accounts with various branches of the bank, a press release from the bank said.

In order to sustain its credit growth, the bank has been able to increase its capital adequacy ratio to 13.56 per cent from 10.45 per cent of the previous year.

The bank was able to bring down the net NPA to 6.68 per cent from 9.25 per cent prevailing earlier. The gross NPA against gross advances fell to 11.43 per cent from 13.19 per cent.

The operating profit of the bank grew to Rs 66.95 crore (Rs 63.52 crore). The provision for loan loss coverage ratio has grown from 31.82 per cent to 43.32 per cent. The bank was able to bring down its cost of deposits from 7.43 per cent to 6.01 per cent during the year.

The bank has obtained RBI concurrence to open 10 more branches in important cities during the current year. It is drafting plans to open 30 more branches, including specialised NRI branches.

The bank will focus on NRI business during the current financial year, the release said.

The bank also has plans of bringing 75 branches under core banking solutions by the end of March 2005.

Having adopted end-to-end outsourcing model, the bank will be rolling out 100 ATMs at important centres across the country.

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