Kochi, Oct 26 (UNI) Federal Bank has fixed the price of its proposed rights issue at Rs 250 a share,a top official today said.

Addressing the media here, Bank Chairman M Venugopal said "8.5 crore shareholders will get shares in the ratio of 1:1. The record date is November 12." Announcing the half-yearly results, Mr Venugopal said the net profit increased by 48 per cent at Rs 162.27 crore for the period ending September 30 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The total income rose 7.77 per cent from Rs 968.84 crore to Rs 1,334.76 crore with the net interest margin at 3.12 per cent.

While the total interest income went up by 37.46 per cent at Rs 1157.37 crore, non-interest income increased by 39.83 per cent to Rs 177.39 crore.

The bank's NPA and capital adequacy ratio were 0.43 per cent and 13.08 per cent respectively.

The income from advances and investments grew by 43.55 per cent and 24.52 per cent respectively supported by strong asset growth.

Mr Venugopal said the total business touched Rs 40,315 crore, an increase of 30.03 per cent while total deposits were higher by 31.81 per cent at Rs 24,111 crore as on September 2007.

UNI