UCO Bank to add another 150 branches by March to expand business

State-owned UCO Bank plans to add another 150 branches in the next five months in a bid to expand its presence and business.

Currently, the Kolkata-based lender has 3,322 branches across the country and with the addition of 150 branches, the network would rise to 3,472 by the end of the current financial year.

The board has approved opening of 150 more branches by March, UCO Bank MD & CEO Ashwani Kumar said during a call after approval of second quarter numbers.

The bank is working on improving ambience of the branches, he said, adding, more skilled workers are going to be hired on the IT, digital and cyber security side.

As of September 2025, the bank has a total staff strength of 21,266 with 70 per cent of them are below average age of 70 years.

For the second quarter ended September 30, 2025, UCO Bank has reported a 3 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 620 crore against Rs 603 crore in the year-ago period.

The total income in the quarter under review rose to Rs 7,421 crore from Rs 7,071 crore.

The lender's interest income also increased to Rs 6,537 crore, from Rs 6,078 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Its net interest income (NII) rose to Rs 2,533 crore from Rs 2,301 crore in Q2 FY25.

During the period, the operating profit of the bank increased to Rs 1,613 crore compared to Rs 1,432 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The bank's asset quality showed improvement as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declined to 2.56 per cent of gross advances at the end of the September quarter from 3.18 per cent a year ago.

Similarly, net NPAs, or bad loans, declined to 0.43 per cent against 0.73 per cent in the year-ago period.