Bank of India puts bad loans worth Rs 3,169 crore on sale

Public sector lender Bank of India (BoI) plans to sell bad loans worth Rs 3,169 crore to clean up its balance sheet. The Mumbai-based lender has sought bids from asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), finance companies, banks and financial institutions for sale or assignment of non-performing assets (NPAs).
 
The sale comprises 67 accounts with a principal balance of about Rs 3,169.08 crore, according to the notice for sale. But, BoI did not elaborate on the nature of accounts, such as their names or the sectors. These NPAs were being offered for sale on “cash basis” or “cash plus securities receipts (SR) basis” and on “as is where is and as is what is” basis. The lender has appointed Special Situation Advisors (India) Pvt Ltd as the financial advisor to assist with this transaction. While the bank continued to face asset quality pressures, its GNPA ratio improved in the 12 months ended June. Gross NPAs were down at Rs 51,019 crore (13.05 per cent) at the end of June 2017 from Rs 51,874 crore (13.38 per cent). Its provisions for NPAs were down to Rs 2,156 crore in Q1FY18 from Rs 2,452 crore in the year-ago period. The provision coverage ratio stood at 63.48 per cent at the end of June 2017, up from 53.06 per cent in June 2016.