A 70.82 per cent growth in net interest income (NII) helped Karnataka Bank Ltd register a 22.56 per cent increase in net profit during the fourth quarter of 2010-11.

The bank posted a net profit of Rs 90.82 crore in the fourth quarter as against Rs 74.10 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The bank registered a net profit of Rs 204.61 crore in 2010-11 (Rs 167.12 crore), recording a growth of 22.43 per cent.

Speaking to Business Line after the board meeting here on Monday, Mr P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, attributed this to the strong growth of 70.82 per cent in net interest income, which went up to Rs 204.35 crore (Rs 119.92 crore) in Q4. The profit growth is in spite of an increase in employee cost to the tune of Rs 137.14 crore (Rs 47.42 crore) during the period.

Mr Bhat said that NII has recorded a jump of 128.38 per cent in 2010-11. It went up from Rs 268.18 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 612.48 crore in 2010-11. During the year, the employee cost went up by Rs 138.28 crore and trading income fell to Rs 44 crore (Rs 182 crore).

“In spite of these impacts, there is a growth of 22.43 per cent in the net profit during 2010-11. The 128 per cent growth in NII has taken care of these impacts,” he said.

Outlook bright

Asked about the outlook, he said it looks bright. The growth rate in net interest income is an indication of this, he said.

The deposits of the bank stood at Rs 27,336 crore (Rs 23,731 crore) and advances at Rs 17,348 crore (Rs 14,436 crore), recording a growth of 15.19 per cent and 20.17 per cent, respectively, during the year.

The CASA (current account savings account) registered a growth of 23.23 per cent in 2010-11. The cost of deposits stood at 6.87 per cent (7.69 per cent) and yield on advance 11.08 per cent (11.25 per cent) during the year.

The board of directors of the bank, which met in Mangalore on Monday, has recommended a dividend of Rs 30 per share for 2010-11.

On Monday, the bank's scrip closed at Rs 104.60 on the BSE against the previous close of Rs 106.20.

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