Merchants Co - operative bank earns profit

[sajiv]

SHIMOGA: The Shimoga Arecanut Mandi Merchants' Cooperative Bank has earned a net profit of Rs. 64.15 lakh in the year 2007-08.President of the bank M.M. Padmanabh told presspersons here on Wednesday that the bank made an annual turnover of Rs. 146 crore in 2007-08.The bank had disbursed loans and made advances to the tune of Rs. 16.33 crore and its total deposit stood at Rs. 17.8 crore.

He said that the bank, which was started in 1964 with an initial share capital of Rs. 23,400, had become one of the prominent cooperative institutions in the State having a total membership of 3,429.This was the only single-branch banking institution in the cooperative sector in the State to have achieved such an impressive progress, Mr. Padmanabh said and added that its jurisdiction had been extended to the districts of Chikmagalur and Davangere in addition to Shimoga.Mr. Padmanabh said that the bank's non-performance assets level had come down to 1.54 per cent in 2007-08 from 2 per cent in the previous year.Vice-president of the bank K.G. Channakeshava said that the bank had been extending financial assistance to research activities on controlling major pests afflicting arecanut plants.

Special fund: The bank had donated Rs. 5 lakh towards the welfare of various sections of society, he said. Mr. Channakeshava said that it had set up a special permanent fund for activities of Sharadadevi Andhara Vikas Kendra of Gopala here, a residential school for visually challenged children.The bank won the "Best Cooperative Bank" award during the 53rd Cooperative Week, he said. It was proposed to open a branch of the bank shortly either at Gandhi Bazar or Shivappa Nayak Market Complex