This is probably the first time other income in an Indian bank has overshot interest income -- the bread and butter income source for a commercial bank.The bank posted a low three per cent increase in its net interest income, which stood at Rs 80.92 crore. The bank board has also recommended a 50 per cent dividend.

The bank's gross profit rose 38 per cent to Rs 70.72 crore while provisions including tax moved up to Rs 25.22 crore from Rs 20.67 crore in the previous year. The bank has marked to market 100 per cent of investments in government securities under the current category. The bank has a paid-up equity base of Rs 11.76 crore and reserves and surplus of Rs 176 crore.

The bank's deposits increased by 43.5 per cent to Rs 2,772 crore in 1997-98. In addition to specific provisionsfor non-performing assets, the bank has provided Rs 6 crore as general provision towards contingencies in the credit portfolio. The bank's NPA ratio has come down in 1997-98 to 5.7 per cent of the net credit, compared with 6.2 per cent last year.

The bank has revalued its immovable assets in various part of the country. The present value of the bank as per the revaluation is Rs 50 crore as against the book value of Rs 14 crore. By transferring Rs 28 crore from the net profit and Rs 35 crore from revaluation reserves, the bank has increased its net worth to Rs 188 crore. This has helped the bank report increased capital adequacy ratio at 13.72 per cent from 12.19 per cent in the previous year.