Date:19/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/19/stories/2008101953291700.htm

Business

Federal Bank’s profit up

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Aluva-based Federal Bank has reported impressive results for the second quarter ended September 30, 2008. The net operating profit has risen by 71.5 per cent to Rs. 302.93 crore compared to the same period last year.

Releasing the figures at a press conference, Bank chairman, M. Venugopalan said the net profit has risen by 20 per cent to Rs.114.28 crore.In response to a query, the chairman said the net interest margin might go up once the CRR reduction announced by the Reserve Bank of India takes effect.

Though the gross non-performing assets (NPA) had gone up, the increase was not due to the waiver of farm loans, he maintained. The net NPA had fallen from 0.43 per cent in September 2007 to 0.40 per cent now. There is a fall in earnings per share from Rs. 37.91 in September last year to Rs. 21.33 this year (but this is after the allotment of equity shares on a rights basis.) The Chairman said the interest rates are likely to come down and claimed that the fluctuations in the stock market would not affect the bank’s profitability.