Kerala-based private sector bank South Indian Bank (SIB) has seen its net profit for the 2013-14 fiscal remain practically flat at ₹507.50 crore versus ₹502.3 crore last year. It has declared a dividend of 80 per cent for the fiscal.

The bank earned a total income of ₹5,383.5 crore in the fiscal under review against ₹4,769.22 crore in FY 13, translating into a growth of 12.88 per cent. The total business stood at ₹84,100 crore versus ₹76,425 crore last year, representing a rise of 10 per cent. Deposits at ₹47,491 crore grew 7.3 per cent over the last year, while advances rose by 13.8 per cent to stand at ₹36,609 crore.

Announcing the bank’s results here, MD and CEO Dr V A Joseph said the profit was impacted by the change in tax rules.

Elaborating on the bad loans, he said last year SIB wrote off ₹150 crore lent mainly to the heavy industry sector. Its gross NPAs at the end of March 2014 were at 1.19 per cent against 1.36 per cent in the previous fiscal. “The biggest priority is to reduce NPAs,” he said, adding that SIB will focus on growing retail loans from a current share of 51 per cent to 60 per cent.

During the current fiscal year, SIB is targeting a total business of ₹1 lakh crore with 850 branches (800 at present), and 1,200 ATMs (1,000 today). Branches will be opened in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur will be the only Indian state where it will not have a presence. It is also adding staff to take the strength to 7,500 from 7,041.

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