Corporation Bank eyes 15% growth in advances; no new branches immediately

Public sector lender Corporation Bank is aiming for a 10-15 per cent growth in advances during this financial year compared to about Rs 120,000 crore clocked in last fiscal.

The total business of the bank was Rs 3,05,819.05 crore as on March 31, 2019 as against Rs 3,03,184.79 crore on March 31, 2018, aggregated by deposits of Rs 1,84,567.84 crore and total advances worth Rs 1,21,251.21 crore (as on March 31, 2019).

“We have set a modest growth target of 10 to 15 per cent rate during this financial year. The loans will be advanced to agriculture, MSMEs (micro, small & medium enterprises) and retail and we are not looking at any corporate loans”, said Birupaksha Mishra, executive director, Corporation Bank.

The state-run bank has no plans to open new branches immediately. It has set a target of doing a business of about Rs 3,30,000 crore during 2019-20. Corporation Bank is hopeful to post profit this financial year on quarter-on-quarter basis.

The Gross NPA (Non-Performing Assets) of the bank during the last financial had decreased from Rs 22,213.44 crore (17.35 per cent) as on March end, 2018 to Rs 20,723.68 crore (15.35 per cent) as on March 31, 2019. The net NPAs had also decreased from Rs 14,077.02 crore (11.74 per cent) to Rs 6,926.64 crore (5.71 per cent) during the last fiscal.

In Odisha, the bank does a business of Rs 5000 crore including Rs 2000 crore of advances. It is eyeing Rs 8000 crore of business in the next couple of years.

Corporation Bank has donated Rs 3.38 crore to the state government for supporting the relief efforts following the devastating cyclone Fani that made a landfall in Puri on May 3. PV Bharathi, managing director and chief executive officer of Corporation Bank handed over the cheque to Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.