The Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank Limited, a scheduled bank, is to take over soon a cooperative bank with six branches in Surat. "This will give the Bank multi-state status and open up avenues for further expansion,” says Tehmasp Bharucha, the Bank’s chief finance officer. The merger proposal has been approved by the boards and general bodies of both the banks and has received the nod from the regulator, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. The matter is in the final stage of clearance by the merger committee of the Reserve Bank of India. "Once we get their approval, the actual merger process will start,” adds Bharucha.
(Clockwise from top left): Zoroastrian Bank’s Hoshang Sinor, Aspi Katgara, Shernaz Mehta and Saroosh Dinshaw
Zoroastrian Bank presently has branches in Bombay and Poona, offering core banking facilities covering Any Time Any Where banking, SMS/ATM (short messaging service/automated teller machine) services and the use of the latest technology. "Our performance has continued to show good improvement,” Bharucha states. For the year ended March 31, 2011, operating profit increased to Rs 13.68 crore, as compared to Rs 4.64 crore in the previous financial year. Return on assets improved from 0.45 percent in the previous year to 1.22 percent in March 2011. Deposits stood at Rs 642.74 crore, advances were Rs 345.90 crore. There were no non-performing assets. The Bank paid a dividend of 15 percent, which is the maximum permissible, as per a press release from the Bank. Capital adequacy ratio was 13.85 percent as against the statutory requirement of nine percent.
In May 2011 the board of directors was reconstituted on the expiry of its term of office. Eminent banker Hoshang Sinor was once again elected chairman. Chartered accountant Shernaz D. Mehta, who has been on the board for a long time, is the vice chairperson. With the passing away on September 10, 2010 of Cowasjee Dinshaw, the grandson of the Bank’s founder Sir Hormusji Cowasjee Dinshaw Adenwalla, his son Saroosh Dinshaw was coopted to the board. Several legal and banking experts are also on the board of directors. Aspi Katgara is the managing director and chief executive officer.