UCO Bank narrows net loss to Rs 601 cr in Q1 as bad loan provisioning falls

State-owned UCO Bank on Thursday reported narrowing of its net loss to Rs 601.45 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, as bad loan provisioning declines.

The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 633.88 crore in the corresponding April-June period of the previous financial year.

Its total income in the June 2019 quarter rose to Rs 4,446.61 crore as against Rs 4,360.88 crore in the year-ago quarter, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank's asset quality witnessed slight improvement, with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) standing at 24.85 per cent of the gross advances as at the end of June 2019, as against 25.71 per cent a year ago.

Net NPAs stood at 8.98 per cent, down from 12.74 per cent.

In terms of absolute value, the gross NPA was Rs 29,431.60 crore, compared with Rs 29,786.41 crore in the year-ago period.

Net NPAs were Rs 8,781.97 crore by the end of the first quarter this fiscal, as against Rs 12,558 crore a year ago.

Thus, there was a decline in provisions for bad loans for the quarter at Rs 1,374.97 crore, against Rs 2,038.33 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The overall provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 1,802.89 crore, compared with Rs 1,781.28 crore a year ago.

In respect of select borrower accounts covered under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, against total outstanding of Rs 5,337.64 crore, the bank is holding a provision of Rs 4,742.36 crore as on June 30, 2019.

The non-performing loan provisioning coverage ratio stood at 77.12 per cent as on June 30, the bank said.

Shares of UCO Bank closed flat at Rs 16.10 apiece on the BSE.