UTI Bank Ltd has reported a 45.3 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 64.18 crore (Rs 641.8 million) for the second quarter ended September 30, 2003, compared to Rs 44.17 crore (Rs 441.7 million) in the same period last fiscal.

The board has also approved a proposal to make an issue of unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures upto Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) in one or more tranches on a private placement basis as the bank's tier II capital.

The total income in the period under review increased to Rs 540.59 crore (Rs 5.40 billion) from Rs 481.66 crore (Rs 4.82 billion) in Q2 of last year, the bank said in a release in Mumbai on Friday.

For the first half ended September, the net profit rose by 45.18 per cent at Rs 116.36 crore (Rs 1.16 billion) while net interest income recorded a growth of 104.43 per cent at Rs 254.98 crore (Rs 2.55 billion).

The net interest income in Q2 of FY04 was higher by 100.15 per cent at Rs 134.78 crore (Rs 1.35 billion) [Rs 67.34 crore (Rs 673.4 million) in the same period last fiscal], it added.

The savings bank accounts have rose to Rs 16,575 crore (Rs 165.75 billion) while net advances stood at Rs 7,430 crore (Rs 74.30 billion).

Retail advances grew by 100 per cent at Rs 1,405 crore (Rs 14.05 billion).

UTI Bank's net non-performing assets was 1.97 per cent, down from 2.46 per cent in June 2003.

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank as on September 2003 stood at Rs 11.24 per cent (9.66 per cent).