Stanchart seeks RBI nod to remit Rs 120 cr

Fish said the bank recorded a net profit of Rs 71 crore in 1996-97 compared to Rs 102 crore the previous year. The profits of 1995-96 included one time recovery relating to securities scam of 1991-92. Deposits had grown from Rs 2,738 crore to Rs 4,191 crore last year while advances were up from Rs 2018 crore to Rs 2,594 crore, he added.

The bank has claimed that it could not repatriate Rs 120 crore worth of profits and if the RBI does not give permission, that money will be ploughed back into the capital. However, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank dipped from 9.7 per cent to 8.6 per cent inspite of a revaluation of its premises which added Rs 77.7 crores to the revaluation reserves. “We do revaluation of our assets in every three years,” he said.

He added that the progress in the Special court established to deal with the scam cases was slow and the bank was unable to bring many of its good cases to the court. However, certain fresh inquiry proceedings against the bank by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Reserve Bank are not yet complete. “The ED case pertains to certain vostro account transactions and the RBI investigation involves Non-Resident Expatriate accounts,” he added.The provisions also rose from Rs 4 crore to Rs 51 crore. “The huge provision was due to two major accounts worth Rs 50 crores becoming non-performing asset. The gross NPA is Rs 215 crore – Rs 50 crore was added this year,” he said.

The future priorities of the bank include telecom and other infrastructure projects plus sale of third party insurance after the insurance sector is opened up. Since the major expenses incurred are on employees payment (Rs 101 crores), the bank is offering a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to shed the surplus staff resulting from the introduction of new technology. The bank will also optimise the branch network through relocations and some expansion.