UCO Bank officers to strike work on July 15

The All India UCO Bank Officers’ Federation has called for a one-day all-India strike on July 15 to express its resentment on the unrest prevailing in the bank.

Voicing his resentment to the unilateral and arbitrary actions resorted to by the UCO Bank management, the general secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) D Thomas Franco urged the management of the bank to intervene and resolve the issue.

The arbitrary action of the management is causing large-scale discrimination against majority of the officers. The confederation will not be a witness to these attacks, rather the AIBOC would be compelled to express its total solidarity with UCO Bank officers by resorting to agitation in all banks, Franco said in a statement. He further pointed out that AIBOC has been continuously working out strategies, holding workshops to see that the bank turns around.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Finance Ministry makes 4 CEO-level appointments at public sector banks

The Finance Ministry has appointed new chief executives in four public sector banks.

Mahesh Kumar Jain, currently executive director at Indian Bank, has been elevated as Managing Director & CEO of the bank. He has been appointed for a period of three years.

The Finance Ministry has also appointed Suresh N Patel as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Andhra Bank. Prior to this appointment, Patel was an executive director at Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

Ravi Krishan Takkar, who was executive director at Dena Bank, has now been appointed as Managing Director & CEO of UCO Bank for a period of three years.

The Finance Ministry has also appointed Jai Kumar Garg, Executive Director at UCO Bank, as MD & CEO of Corporation Bank. Garg will assume charge on or after February 1 next year.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank to reduce base rate by 25 bps to 9.7%

A day after the RBI announced a 50 basis points repo rate cut, Kolkata-based lender, UCO Bank, has said it will reduce the base rate by 25 basis points.

The base rate, which will come into effect from October 5, will be at 9.70 per cent, according to a notification to the bourses.

"The UCO Bank has informed the BSE that the bank has reduced its Base Rate by 25 basis points to 9.70 per cent with effect from October 05, 2015," it said in the notification.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank pays Rs 156.67 cr dividend

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has paid a dividend of Rs 156.67 crore to the Centre for the year 2014-15. Last fiscal, it had declared a dividend of 20 per cent. A cheque in this regard was handed over to the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley by the bank’s CMD, Arun Kaul. The Centre holds 72.83 per cent in UCO Bank.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank cuts base rate by 25 bps

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has reduced its base rate by 25 basis points (0.25 per cent) to 9.95 per cent with effect from May 1, this year.

Interest rate on deposits across all tenors has also been reduced “with immediate effect”, it said in a release.

“UCO Bank reduces its Base rate by 25 Basis points to 9.95 per cent with effect from 1st May 2015, and, reduces Interest rate on deposits across all tenors with immediate effect,” the release said.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank net dips to Rs. 304 cr

Kolkata-based PSU lender UCO Bank saw a 3.50 per cent dip in net profit to Rs. 304 crore for the period ending October to December 2014. It had reported a net profit of Rs. 315 crore in the year-ago-period.

A jump in other income ( Rs. 660 crore) – because of treasury operations – compensated its losses in the corporate lending segment, Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director, UCO Bank said.

Treasury and retail banking reported profit (before tax) to the tune of Rs. 728 crore and Rs. 146 crore: while corporate and wholesale banking segment reported a loss of Rs. 367 crore.

“The bank has been able to take advantage of market opportunities and benefited from strong treasury operations,” he said.

The company’s provisions moved up to Rs. 908 crore (from Rs. 812 crore in the year ago period).

NPAs

UCO Bank’s gross non performing assets (NPA) slipped by 29 percent to Rs. 9,531 crore (Rs 7,446 cr) in the third quarter of this fiscal. Gross NPAs moved up to 6.50 per cent (from 5.20 per cent).

Net NPA stood at Rs. 6,051 crore, up by over 43 per cent ( Rs. 4,217 crore) on a Y-o-Y basis. The net NPA per cent was up 119 basis points at 4.25 percent.

According to Kaul, fresh slippages during the quarter stood at Rs. 2,758 crore of which restructured assets worth Rs. 1509 crore had turned bad.

The bank was unable to sale bad assets worth of nearly Rs. 1,500 crore to asset reconstruction companies. The CMD cited a change in sale norms for the failure.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank to raise about Rs. 400 cr by selling shares to LIC

State-owned UCO Bank today said it will sell 6.08 crore share to LIC on preferential basis which may fetch about Rs. 400 crore to the bank.

The board of the bank at its meeting has approved a proposal for issue of 6.08 crore shares of Rs. 10 each to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on preferential basis at a price to be determined in accordance with SEBI regulation, UCO Bank said in a statement.

LIC currently holds 8.69 per cent stake in UCO Bank.

Following the fresh investment, stake of LIC would further go up by more than 5 per cent.

At the current market price, the bank would raise about Rs. 416 crore by allotting shares on preferential basis to LIC.

Shares of the bank closed at Rs. 68.35 per unit, down 5.66 per cent on the BSE.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank to add 50 e-lobbies by March next

Kolkata-headquartered UCO Bank is looking to add 50 e-lobbies to its existing five, by March 2015. The e-lobbies will enable users to withdraw cash, deposit cash or cheque and print passbooks.

Additionally, 500 self-service passbook printers have been purchased and are getting deployed in the branches, the banks said in a press release.

This apart, the bank is looking to expand its ATM network and is also mulling the possibility of having “ATMs through the wall”. It currently has 2160 ATMs.

Plans are also afoot to announce a reward points scheme for debit card users. The idea is to promote cashless transactions.

UCO Bank is also examining the option of acquiring POS machines at merchant sites.

According to the release, one of the most popular services has been the missed call facility. Customers can call on the number - 092787 92787 – that provides for balance enquiry across various accounts like current or savings bank accounts.

A missed call on 09213125125 provides customers with a mini-statement with last balance facilities on the accounts.

Missed call on 09210422122 & 09210222122 enables users to obtain the bank’s car loan and home loan schemes.

This apart, the bank has also introduced online savings bank and current account opening facility with provision to upload KYC documents. Thereafter, bank representative will contact the applicant and complete the residual formalities.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank identifies Kingfisher Air as wilful defaulter

Kolkata based UCO Bank today said it has “identified” Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines as a “wilful defaulter” and will be sending a notice to the defunct carrier.

“We have identified KFA as a wilful defaulter. We are in the process of sending a notice to the company in this regard,” a source in the bank told PTI.

Other banks like State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank are also mulling this route.

United Bank of India has already declared KFA a ‘wilful defaulter’ for defaulting on a loan of Rs. 350 crore.

UCO Bank will also send a notice to the company which had furnished a corporate guarantee for a loan of around Rs. 450 crore, the source said.

As per RBI guidelines, a wilful defaulter tag would be given if it is found that a loan taken is diverted for some other use rather than for which it was availed, as well as the default is made in spite of having the ability to repay it.

Source : The Hindu

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UCO Bank inks pact with CCAvenue for online shopping

Public sector lender, UCO Bank, has signed a net-banking agreement with “CCAvenue” – one of the largest payment gateway providers.

The tie-up will entail UCO Bank customers to shop online across various websites that are powered by “CCAvenue.com”. Payments can be made directly through the bank’s debit card.

Source : The Hindu

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Uco Bank sells bad loans worth Rs 1500 crore to clean up books

State run Uco Bank said it has sold bad loans worth Rs 1,500 crore to an asset reconstruction company to clean up its balance sheet before the end of the fiscal.

This is nearly five-folds than what Uco had sold in the third quarter -- Rs 330 crore.

Banks are rushing to sell off bad loans to protect themselves against the higher loan loss provision rule that take effect in March 2015.

"High non performing assets is a concern area for banks," Uco chairman and managing director Arun Kaul said. "Banks are proxy to the economy. So, there is stress in banks' asset quality as the economy is facing slow growth," he said at an event in Kolkata, organised by MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Earlier, the Kolkata-headquartered lender announced that it was looking to sell Rs 1900 crore of bad loans during the fourth quarter.

"We expect the NPA ratios to improve in the fourth quarter," Kaul said.

Its gross NPA ratio was 5.20% as on December, compared with 5.53% a year back while net NPA ratio fell to 3.06% from 3.32%.

Kaul said he expects net interest margin to be a little less than 3% for the quarter.


Source: Economic Times

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UCO Bank sees near 4-fold rise in Q2 net

State-owned UCO Bank’s net profit in the second quarter jumped almost four-fold to Rs 400.20 crore from Rs 103.71 crore in corresponding year-ago period. Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, said the growth trends in all parameters, including interest income and net interest margin, were likely to be maintained in the second half of this fiscal, too.

Apart from credit growth, the bank saw reduction in costs as well as upward trend in recoveries in the second quarter ended September 30. “During the quarter, NPAs worth Rs 778 crore were reduced,” Kaul told media persons here on Friday.

Also, much of the bank’s corporate debt restructuring proposals have been approved. “There are a few left in the pipeline,” he added.

Capital infusion

The bank expects the Government to infuse Rs 200 crore equity capital in it during the January-March quarter.

Kaul said the infusion, among the smallest for public sector banks, will help meet the capital adequacy norms.

In 2012-13, the bank had received Rs 681 crore from the Government by way of equity infusion. The total capital of the bank as on March 31, 2013 stood at Rs 2,575.63 crore. The reserves and surplus stood at Rs 7,106.78 crore at the end of FY13.

The UCO Bank stock of face value Rs 10 closed at Rs 74.75, up 5.28 per cent, on the BSE on Friday.

jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank launches ‘Veer Shakti’

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has launched a special savings account scheme for in-service and retired personnel of the Indian Armed Forces and paramilitary force.

The scheme, called ‘UCO Veer Shakti’, includes facilities such as zero balance and overdraft. The savings account scheme was launched on August 14.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in
Source: thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank scheme for Armed Forces

On the eve of Independence Day, UCO Bank launched an exclusive product for the Indian Armed Forces, including paramilitary forces.

The product, meant for in-service as also retired armed personnel, will offer a zero-balance savings account with overdraft facility.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank Q1 profit gets 41% ‘other income’ boost

Riding on the back of a rise in non-interest income and lower cost of funds, UCO Bank posted 41 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 511 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

The net profit stood at Rs 362 crore during the same period last year.

On a sequential basis, profits during Q1 FY14 zoomed ten-fold from around Rs 50 crore during the January-March 2013 quarter. The drop in profit during Q4 FY13 was due to higher provisioning for stressed assets.

According to Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director of UCO Bank, cost of deposits during the quarter under review came down to 6.16 per cent (7.16 per cent). Yield on advances also came down to 9.77 per cent (11.32 per cent) following a reduction in the base rate.

“We have been able to reduce our cost of funds by mobilising more CASA (current account, savings account) deposits and by shedding high-cost bulk deposits,” Kaul said at a press meet.

CASA deposits, which grew by 57 per cent, currently account for 35 per cent of its total deposits against 25.6 per cent during the year-ago period.

Other income grew by 98 per cent to Rs 462 crore. Of this, nearly Rs 234 crore came from treasury trading profits, Kaul said.

Loan Quality

There has been an improvement in the bank’s asset quality during the first quarter. Slippages were lower at Rs 629 crore during the current quarter, against the average slippage of Rs 1,300-1,400 crore during the last three quarters of FY13.

The bank expects its asset quality to improve this fiscal.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA), as a percentage of advances, increased to 5.58 per cent (3.88 per cent) while net NPAs increased to 3.15 per cent (2.23 per cent).

The bank recognised minimum alternative tax (MAT) credit to the extent of Rs 147.42 crore for the April-June quarter.

Net interest margin (NIM) declined to 2.42 per cent (2.58 per cent). The bank aims to achieve NIM of 3 per cent by the end of this fiscal.

Capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.72 per cent (12.33 per cent). The bank has approached the Union Government for funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.

Shares of UCO Bank closed at Rs 69.40, down 5.64 per cent on the BSE on Friday.

shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Himachal targets 800 new bank branches by 2016

Himachal Pradesh has set a target of opening 800 new bank branches in rural and remote areas of the state by 2016 as per a comprehensive financial inclusion plan. The hill state already has 1,666 bank branches, besides 861 ATMs.

Addressing the 128th state level bankers committee meeting, convened by Uco Bank in Shimla on Monday, state chief secretary Sudripta Roy said that a record number of 31 new branches were opened during the last quarter till March 2013. Of these, 25 were located in rural areas.

Roy said that under the annual credit plan 2012-13, the banks had provided fresh loans amounting to Rs 8,824 crore during the last fiscal ended March 2013. They plan to lend Rs 11,548 crore in the current financial year, by increasing the financial outlay to about 24%. The rural development department had finalised selection of five blocks, namely Nurpur, Sadar Mandi, Kandaghat, Basantpur and Haroli, for implementation of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in the state on a pilot basis.

Roy said that due to excessive rains last month, the state suffered heavy losses, especially in the tribal district of Kinnaur and other parts. The state government had sought financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore from the Union government for providing relief and rehabilitation and to speed up re-building of infrastructure.

Source: TimesOfIndia

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UCO Bank to seek capital from government

Public sector UCO Bank would approach the government for fresh infusion of capital to meet Basel-III norms.

"We will write to the government seeking capital for the bank," chairman of UCO Bank Arun Kaul said on friday.

"We are taking adequate steps for getting Tier-I, Tier-II capital. We have options to go to the market or approach the government," Kaul told shareholders at the bank's 10th AGM here today.

He said that the bank was already having branches in Hong Kong and Singapore. "We are now looking at South East Asia," Kaul said.

Kaul said that the bank had restructured accounts worth Rs 8,500 crore.

He said that bank had adopted a strategy to diversify portfolio from large corporates to MSME, retail and agriculture.

Source: EconomicTimes

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To curb frauds, banks plan more checks on e-transfer of funds

Electronic fund transfer from one account to another and opening of current accounts may soon become a little more difficult.

Taking a cue from the recent frauds in West Bengal, bankers are set to introduce a new set of security measures on current account operation. Savings bank accountholders may also face the heat as banks are planning to add a few more security checks on the electronic fund transfer or RTGS (real time gross settlement) channel.

In the second week of March this year, West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (WBIDFC) and West Bengal State Cooperative Bank were defrauded of Rs 120 crore and Rs 40 crore, respectively, through forgery of term-deposit receipts involving several public and private sector banks.

According to a senior official of Allahabad Bank, an informal working group comprising bankers and Kolkata police has been set up to suggest corrective measures.

“Based on our initial observations, we have realised that most of these frauds are being perpetrated using current accounts,” the official told Business Line.

Case Study

The working group is in the process of preparing a case study on the modus operandi of such frauds. The report is likely to be ready by June-end.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested Indrajit Chatterjee, the alleged mastermind of the Rs 120-crore WBIDFC fraud.

“We plan to approach the Reserve Bank of India with our suggestions to make the process of opening of current accounts more stringent,” the official said.

UCO Bank, on its part, has tightened the norms for fund transfer using RTGS mode.

“Earlier fund transfer could be done by tallying the account and IFSC number.

“Now we are also asking for the name of beneficiary,” a senior official of the bank said.

The bank has also put restrictions on the amount that can be transferred through RTGS from branches other than the base branch (where customer actually holds the account).

WBIDFC had transferred Rs 59 crore in August 2012 and Rs 61 crore in January 2013 through RTGS to a current account at UCO Bank’s Circus Avenue branch in Kolkata to start term deposits.

The account, however, belonged to one SA Enterprises. Though the term deposits were never started, WBIDFC was handed over two term deposit certificates.

From SA Enterprises’s account in UCO Bank, money was remitted through RTGS to accounts in Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, IndusInd Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Development Credit Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd and Punjab National Bank.

In another such instance, fixed-deposit receipts issued to West Bengal State Co-operative Bank, which had deposited Rs 20 crore each in UCO Bank and Indian Overseas Bank, were also found to be “fake”.

shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank profit slumps 80% to Rs 50 cr in Q4

Higher provisioning, driven by a stress in asset quality, dragged down UCO Bank net profit in the fourth quarter by nearly 80 per cent. Net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, stood at Rs 50 crore.

Provisioning increased by 114 per cent to Rs 977 crore (Rs 456 crore).

The bank’s board has recommended a dividend of Re 1 per share of face value of Rs 10 each.

On a sequential basis, profits declined by 51 per cent from Rs 102 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Gross non-performing assets as a percentage to advances increased to 5.42 per cent (3.48 per cent), net NPAs increased to 3.17 per cent (1.96 per cent).

According to S. Chandrasekharan, Executive Director of UCO Bank, the drop in profits is primarily on account of a rise in provisioning. “On a quarter-on-quarter basis, our NPAs have been coming down. Moving forward the asset quality should improve,” he told Business Line.

Capital adequacy ratio improved to 14.22 per cent (12.35 percent). The bank has no immediate plans to raise capital, he said.

Shares of UCO Bank closed at 73.45, up by 0.27 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday.

shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Little scope to reduce lending rates

The 25 basis point reduction in the repo rate by the RBI might not be immediately passed on to customers, said S. Chandrasekharan, Executive Director, UCO Bank. “Most banks had reduced their base rates post the 25 basis point reduction in policy rates announced by Reserve Bank of India in January this year. So there is little scope for banks to reduce lending rates further, at least till March 31,”Chandrasekharan said. UCO Bank had reduced its base rate by 30 basis points to 10.2 per cent post the January announcement. Banks have also increased the interest rates on deposits in certain buckets, particularly for retail depositors. This was primarily due to liquidity pressure in the system, he said. “Unless the cost of deposits comes down it will be difficult to pass on the benefit by way of a cut in lending rates,” he pointed out. —

shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in


Source: thehindubusinessline

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