City Union Bank Ltd has reported 5 per cent growth in net profit at ₹90 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, against ₹85.22 crore in the comparable previous year period.
Interest income for the period went up 16 per cent to ₹646 crore (₹556 crore). Savings bank deposits grew 14 per cent and CASA (current account, savings account) deposits, 15 per cent.
Total business of the bank stood at close to ₹37,000 crore at the end of the quarter — a growth of 10 per cent from ₹33,500 crore.
Gross non-performing assets at the end of the quarter stood at 1.7 per cent, and net NPA at 0.89 per cent. In absolute terms, gross NPA moved up to ₹268.91 crore at the end of the quarter under consideration from ₹178.74 crore last year, and net NPA went up to ₹139.26 crore from ₹91.43 crore. During the third quarter the bank recovered over ₹55 crore of stressed loans.
Announcing the results, N Kamakodi, Managing Director, said the bank is evaluating the option of selling some of its NPAs to asset reconstruction companies. However, he said: “The bank is not in a tearing hurry to do that as our asset quality is one of the best in the industry.”
Recently, the bank upgraded its core banking solution from TCS Quartz to TCS BaNCS at a capex of ₹25 crore. The upgraded version will enable the bank to connect more branches to its core system. It currently has 400 branches. “With the upgraded version we can expand our footprint as widely as we would want to in the next several years to come,” he said.
Kamakodi said the bank’s alternative channels have been well received by its customers.