Dena Bank to sell NPAs, floats tender for consultant

Bank hopes to complete sell process by January end or early February

Dena Bank plans to sell some of its non-performing assets (NPAs) this financial year. The state-run lender will soon appoint a consultant for the sale of these stressed assets.

“We have floated a tender to appoint a consultant. We hope to complete the sale process by the end of January or early February,” Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Kumar said on Friday. He did not specify the value of the NPAs the bank planned to sell.

Typically, banks sell NPAs in the last quarter of a financial year.

For the quarter ended September, Dena Bank recorded a gross NPA ratio of three per cent; its net bad loan ratio was 2.02 per cent. Fresh slippages during the quarter stood at Rs 478.53 crore.

“We were able to contain our gross non-performing assets at three per cent. Despite the sluggish credit growth, our non-performing asset ratios have not spiked,” Kumar said.

Amid the prevailing uncertain economic environment, most banks are seeing a rise in bad loans. Slow growth and high interest rates are being cited as the primary reasons for the deterioration in credit quality.