UCO Bank hopes to come out of the Reserve Bank of India’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework by March.

According to AK Goel, Managing Director and CEO, UCO Bank, which has been in the red for the past several quarters, hopes to net profit in the January-March 2020 quarter. It also hopes to bring down its net Non-Performing Assets (NPA) to below 6 per cent by March 2020.

“We are hopeful of posting a net profit in the quarter ended March 2020 and also bring down our net NPA below 6 per cent to be able to come out of the PCA framework,” Goel told newspersons.

For the quarter ended September 30, the bank had reported an overall improvement in asset quality, with both gross and net non-performing assets witnessing a decline. Gross NPAs, as a percentage of total loans, stood at 21.87 per cent, down from 25.37 per cent in the same period last year, while net NPAs came down to 7.32 per cent (11.97 per cent).

The bank has recovered close to ₹900 crore from four accounts, including Essar Steel, Ruchi Soya, Prayagraj Power and Rattan Power, in the third quarter of this fiscal. UCO Bank expects more recovery to happen in the coming days, both through NCLT as well as outside of the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code).

Despite the sluggishness in the economy, it expects 8-10 per cent credit growth this fiscal. The bank has disbursed close to ₹9,000 crore during September-December under various schemes as part of festival offerings. To boost credit offtake further, the bank is rolling out a UCO Carnival campaign, aimed at retail and MSME borrowers and is hopeful of disbursing close to ₹4,000 crore.

The bank expects to witness good demand for housing, car and gold loans, accounting for close to ₹2,700 crore, with the remaining (₹1,300 crore) coming from MSMEs.

Published on January 05, 2020