UCO Bank Q3 profit dips 23% to Rs 505 cr on wage provisions

Kolkata: UCO Bank on Wednesday reported 23 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 505 crore for December quarter 2023-24, attributable to higher provisions for wage revision.

Standalone profit too fell 23 per cent to Rs 503 crore from Rs 653 crore in the year-ago period.

However, consolidated profit grew sequentially from Rs 403 crore registered in the second quarter ended September 2023.

"Our performance remains robust. Net profit during the quarter slipped due to the entire provision of Rs 277 crore on account of wage revision," said UCO Bank MD & CEO Ashwani Kumar.

The bank maintains a credit growth outlook at 12-13 per cent and expresses optimism about the upcoming budget being growth-oriented.

"We have been able to reduce slippages. The total slippages (fresh and additional) during the quarter under review are Rs 481 crore, down from Rs 578 crore in the corresponding quarter, and we will keep our outlook to retain slippages within 1.25 per cent," Kumar added.

Gross NPA reduced by 178 basis points to 3.85 per cent as of December, while net NPA reduced by 68 basis points to 0.98 per cent on a consolidated basis, a statement said.

In December quarter, the bank's year-on-year growth in total business was 10.46 per cent, reaching Rs 4,35,456 crore. Gross advances increased by 18.63 per cent to Rs 1,79,195 crore, and total deposits expanded by 5.38 per cent to Rs 2,56,261 crore.

Meanwhile, Kumar mentioned that the bank has successfully recovered 87-88 per cent of the Rs 820 crore wrongly credited to its customers' accounts due to a technical glitch in the past.

"We have recovered Rs 715 crore, and only Rs 105 crore remains to be recovered from the deposit account holders wrongly credited in the past. The bank has taken all measures to recover the same and has provisioned the amount in its books," he said.