May 9 (PTI): Syndicate Bank’s net profit dipped by 7.19 per cent to Rs 402.90 crore last fiscal from Rs 434.13 crore in the previous year. Total income increased to Rs 4,322.18 crore compared with Rs 3,861.25 crore.

CMD N Kantha Kumar said the decline was due to a Rs 382-crore provision made on government securities transferred to hold-to-maturity category and Rs 92 crore towards wage revision.

Operating profit declined 5.69 per cent to Rs 994 crore (Rs 1,054 crore). Despite the decline in net and operating profits, the bank has proposed a final dividend of 14 per cent for 2004-05. With an interim dividend of 6 per cent, the total payout is 20 per cent.

He admitted that the deposit growth had only been 8.58 per cent and mobilisation at Rs 43,706 crore against Rs 40,252 crore in 2003-04.

The bank’s NPA management has been ?good?, he said, adding that the net NPA ratio has come down to 1.59 per cent from 2.58 per cent at the end of March 2004. Gross NPA has declined to 5.17 per cent from 7.33 per cent.

The bank is charting a strategy to increase its portfolio under SMEs, mid-size firms, SSIs, retail business and consumer credit, Kumar said. ?Under resource mobilisation, the bank’s focus is to shed high-cost bulk deposits and rely more on low-cost deposits,? he added.

Clariant net dips

A decline in exports has hit Clariant India Ltd, manufacturers and suppliers of dyes and speciality chemical products.

Clariant has posted a 11.2 per cent drop in net profit for fiscal ended March 31 at Rs 18.5 crore compared with Rs 20.8 crore in the previous year.

The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per share amounting to a total dividend of Rs 11 per share for the fiscal, the company said today.

Turnover stood at Rs 332.1 crore, up from Rs 316.7 crore reported in 2003-04.

For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company reported a net profit of Rs 4.33 crore against Rs 3.88 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. Turnover stood at Rs 77.90 crore against Rs 72.04 crore in the year-ago period.

RCF posts lower net

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd has reported a 15.9 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 140.96 crore in 2004-05 from Rs 167.79 crore in the previous year. Total income rose 20 per cent to Rs 2,840.08 crore from Rs 2,347.45 crore a year ago, the company informed the BSE today.

The board has announced the payment of a final dividend at 14 per cent.