The Hindu Business Line : PSB chiefs confident of meeting profit target

New Delhi, Jan 5 The chief executives of public sector banks (PSBs) have assured the Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, that they would meet the profit target mentioned in the annual statement of intent (SOI) filed with the Finance Ministry for 2007-08. All but one or two Chairmen have also said that they would meet their SOI target for advances.

“Every bank chairman has told me that their SOI target on profits would be met,” Mr Chidambaram said after the meeting with chief executives of PSBs.

Official sources said aggregate net profit of 28 PSBs during the six months ended September 2007 stood at Rs 12,241 crore as compared to Rs 9,317 crore in the same period the previous year. The aggregate net profit for the year ended March 2007 stood at Rs 20,397 crore.

Aggregate operating profit achieved by the 28 PSBs during the six months ended September 2007 stood at Rs 20,639 crore (Rs 17,528 crore).

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister said he expects advances of banks to grow 24 per cent by the end of the current fiscal; this is also the assessment of the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks’ Association. The latest available data show that advances are growing 22.2 per cent year-on-year as on December 7.