Central Bank of India has reported a net profit of Rs. 171 crore for the fourth quarter of the fiscal ended in March 2010. The bank has booked a strong rise in its net interest income. The net profit for the same period a year back was locked at Rs. 62.50 crore.

The board of the bank has decided at relaeasing a dividend of 10 percent.

The bank has shown a net profit of Rs 1085 crore for the whole year which is a rise by 85%.

The net interest income for the bank has increased by 53% in the last quarter amounting to Rs. 664 crore.

Apart from a robust increase in NII the bank has also performed well owing to increased focus on recovery from written-off accounts and commission/exchange income, said the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr S. Sridhar.

The bank has plans to grow its loan book as well as deposit book by 25 % each in this fiscal.

"Currently, our credit portfolio is skewed towards corporate lending. Hence, we plan to gradually rebalance our credit portfolio in the current financial year through increased thrust on retail (home and education loans) and SME loans," said Mr Sridhar.

The bank has asked for capital infusion worth Rs. 2000 crore to the Centre.