 "UCO Bank posts Rs 440.57 crore loss in Q1, asset quality deteriorates")
Kolkata-based UCO Bank posted a net loss of about Rs 437 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, against a net loss of about Rs 1,497 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
Sequentially, the bank saw an increase in net loss, as in the second quarter of the current financial year (2016-17) it was around Rs 385 crore.
The asset quality of the bank deteriorated in the last quarter, as its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) increased to 17.18 per cent of gross loans, against 10.98 per cent, in the same quarter of the previous financial year (FY16), and 16.51 per cent in the second quarter of the current one (FY17).
According to R K Takkar, managing director and chief executive officer, UCO Bank, one of the reasons for the rise in NPAs was a lower upgrade of NPA into standard assets.
In the quarter ended September 30, 2016, accounts worth Rs 1,792 crore were upgraded from NPAs to standard assets, while in the last quarter the upgrade was to the tune of Rs 857 crore, Takkar told Business Standard.
“There has been only a marginal rise in loss, compared to the previous quarter. The increase has mainly been on account of ageing impact of NPAs,” said Takkar.
The net NPA of the bank stood at 8.99 per cent of net loans in the last quarter, against 6.51 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year and 8.83 per cent in the second quarter of the current financial year.
In absolute terms, the net NPA of the bank in the last quarter stood at about Rs 10,545 crore, against Rs 8,409 crore in the same period of the last financial year.
The total provisions of the bank in the last quarter stood at about Rs 1,326 crore, against about Rs 2,361 crore in the same period last financial year.
In the last quarter, the bank raised around Rs 750 crore as additional tier-I bonds, with a coupon rate of around 11.7 per cent. Shares of UCO Bank remained flat at Rs 34.40 at BSE, same as previous day’s closing price.
