Merger will put together banks' strength: Andhra Bank's J Packirisamy

Our capital to risk (weighted) assets ratio, or CRAR, is good, says Andhra Bank MD

Andhra Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer J Packirisamy speaks to Somesh Jha on merger with Union Bank and Andhra Bank. Edited excerpts:

How do you see the announcement?

It’s good as the ability to service people and to deploy technology faster will improve. There will be cost rationalisation. We all are operating similar products and serving indian clients so putting together the strength helps.

There is always some skepticism among employees regarding merger...

Nowadays, measures are taken to keep employees in focus and care is taken to see that employees do not feel excluded. In my case, Union Bank of India is slightly larger in business size but Corporation Bank’s business size is almost the same. So, for us it’s a merger with an equal or a stronger bank. We will ensure that employees get the perks and facilities that are the best among the three banks. We are well positioned geographically.

J Packirisamy

What do the financial parameters look like?

Our capital to risk (weighted) assets ratio, or CRAR, is good but non-performing assets are slightly high. The CRAR of Corporation Bank is a little lower. But the finances of the merged entity look good. Though the NPA of Andhra Bank is high but the provision coverage ratio is 73 per cent.

Will you need more recapitalisation money?

We don’t need any capital as of today to meet regulatory ratios.