Canara Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 459 crore for the third quarter ended December 2007, a growth of 26.4% compared to Rs 363 crore reported in the same period last fiscal. During the same period, total income increased by 26.2% to Rs 4,097 crore from Rs 3,245 crore. ?The bank has rebalanced its business portfolio both under assets and liabilities by reducing high cost deposits and low yielding corporate loans during the year as part of the conscious business strategy,? chairman and managing director MBN Rao said here on Wednesday. He also said the bank had moved a step closer in its overseas expansion drive and has got RBI?s nod for commissioning five branches – Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Muscat, Manama and QFC-Qatar – of the 21 centres it has identified for expansion in the medium term.

Union Bank net up at Rs 365 cr

Union Bank of India has registered a 42.58% rise in its net profit at Rs 365 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 256 crore profit earned during the corresponding period last year. The net interest income was Rs 789 crore and the net interest margin of the bank remained at 2.83%. As on December 31, 2007, the net non-performing assets ratio of the bank was 0.35%, capital adequacy ratio was 13.03% and the CASA ratio remained at 33.10%.

Dena Bank?s net up by 43.3%

Dena Bank has registered a net profit of 43.3% at Rs 248.79 crore during the third quarter ending December, 2007, against the mark of Rs 157.77 crore during the same period a year ago. The net profit of the bank for the nine months during the current fiscal was up by 57.69% at Rs 248.79 crore.

Total deposits increased by 20.8% to Rs 30,839 crore during the third quarter, whereas the credit-deposit ratio stood at 68.92% during the period. Gross credit was up by 23.53%. Net NPA was down by 106 basis points at 1.41% and the bank expects to bring it further down at 1% by March.

BoM Q3 net up by 35.06%

The net profit of the state-run Bank of Maharashtra?s (BoM) net profit for the quarter that ended December, 2007, increased to Rs 100.38 crore as against the mark of Rs 74.32 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year, registering growth of 35.06 %.

Operating profit remained at Rs 172.51 crore for the quarter as against Rs 171.34 crore for the corresponding period of previous year in spite of additional outgo on IT expenditure, an initiative taken by the bank last year by introducing core banking solution.

The interest spread increased from Rs 268.74 crore to Rs 300.61 crore registering growth of 11.86 %.

Announcing the results before the media in Mumbai on Wednesday, the bank?s chairman and managing director, MD Mallya, said that ?We have our plans to go for non-life insurance product in joint venture with Shriram Group and Sun Lam of South Africa?.