Chennai, May 28 (IANS): State-owned Indian Bank on Friday said it closed last fiscal with a net profit of Rs 3,004.67 crore on a total income of Rs 45,185.04 crore, said a top official.

The bank had earned a total income of about Rs 44,099 crore and a net loss of Rs 4,643 crore for 2019-20.

Last fiscal was the first full year of operations after the Allahabad Bank was merged with the Indian Bank.

According to the Indian Bank, the figures for 2019-20 were arrived at by totaling the numbers of the two banks.

Addressing reporters, Managing Director and CEO Padmaja Chundru said the bank's Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of 20 per cent for FY21.

During the period under review, Indian Bank's total business went up to Rs 928,388 crore (deposits Rs 538,071 crore, advances Rs 390,317 crore) from Rs 857,499 crore (deposits Rs 488,835 crore, advances Rs 368,664 crore) logged during FY20.

She said last year, Indian Bank's provisions stood at Rs 8,391 crore down from Rs 14,230 crore provided during the previous fiscal.

The Indian Bank ended last fiscal with a gross non performing assets (GNPA) of Rs 38,455 crore and a net NPA of Rs 12,271 crore down from the previous year's GNPA, closing figure of Rs 41,998 crore and net NPA of Rs 14,273 crore.

According to Chundru, the bank's cost to income ratio has come down last year to 47.59 per cent from 49.08 per cent in FY20 and this is expected to come down further due to merger.

Last year, the Indian Bank had sold priority sector advances of Rs 39,605 crore and buyers are private banks.

She said Indian Bank has successfully completed the amalgamation with the Allahabad Bank including the core banking solution (CBS) integration.

Chundru said Indian Bank has rationalised 217 branches, 25 zonal offices, 12 currency chests and other offices like staff training centres, large corporate branches, service branches and stressed asset management branches.

According to her, the emphasis during the current year will be on transformation in digital, operations and human resource front.

The bank's focus will also be on leveraging the larger balance sheet size and higher capital adequacy, wider geographical presence, and enhanced technology.