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Informist, Sunday, Apr. 26, 2026

 

By Shweta

 

NEW DELHI - UCO Bank Saturday reported healthy year-on-year growth in net profit for the March quarter on the back of lower provisions and operating expenses. The bank also reported sharp year-on-year growth in its treasury operations segment. The state-owned bank's other income, however, declined on year for the quarter, containing the rise in its bottom line.

 

UCO Bank's bottom line for the March quarter grew nearly 23% on year to INR 8.01 billion. Sequentially, the net profit rose over 8%. The provisions and contingencies were INR 3.26 billion, down nearly 51% on year and nearly 38% on quarter. The treasury operations segment was up over 47% on year and 52% sequentially at INR 8.48 billion.

 

The Kolkata-headquartered bank's total income fell over 9% on year and 2% on quarter to INR 7.37 billion for the three-month period. The other income declined 49% on year and over 18% sequentially to INR 7.09 billion. The net interest income--interest earned minus expended--slipped over 3% on year and 1% on quarter to INR 26.14 billion.

 

The bank's total expenses for the quarter declined 10% on year and nearly 1% sequentially to INR 57.92 billion. Total expenses came down as operating expenses fell almost 27% on year and nearly 5% on quarter to INR 17.50 billion. Interest expenses were largely flat on year at INR 40.42 billion.

 

The lender's asset quality improved both sequentially and annually, which supported the bottom line. At the end of the March quarter, its net non-performing asset ratio improved to 0.27% from 0.36% a quarter ago and 0.50% a year ago. The gross non-performing asset ratio improved to 2.17% from 2.41% a quarter ago and 2.69% a year ago. The provision coverage ratio at the end of March was 97.79% against 96.69% a year ago.
 
The bank's business performance was steady, with global advances and global deposits rising over 19% on year and nearly 12% on year, respectively, to INR 2.6 trillion and INR 3.3 trillion as of Mar. 31. The bank's domestic advances rose almost 20% on year to INR 2.3 trillion as of Mar. 31. Retail advances were up over 26% on year at INR 686.97 billion at the end of March. Within this, the bank's home loan book grew over 19% on year to INR 333.3 billion. Its vehicle loan book continued to grow sharply at over 71% on year to INR 80.3 billion as on Mar. 31, while agricultural loans rose over 26% on year to INR 373.4 billion and the micro, small, and medium enterprise loan book rose over 19% to INR 462.9 billion. The corporate loan book rose nearly 13% on year to INR 820.6 billion.
 
Within global deposits, domestic deposits were up over 10% on year at INR 3.05 trillion. Overseas deposits were up over 32% on year at INR 228.95 billion. UCO Bank's credit-deposit ratio rose to 80.21% from 78.56% a quarter ago and 74.94% a year ago. The public-sector bank's domestic net interest margin was 3.19% in Jan-Mar, down from 3.27% a quarter ago and 3.22% a year ago. Its global net interest margin was 3.00%, down from 3.08% a quarter ago but flat on year.

The lender's domestic current account savings account ratio at the end of March was 38.65%, up from 38.41% at the end of December and 37.91% at the end of March 2025. The cost of deposits during the quarter under review was 4.65%, down marginally from 4.66% a quarter ago and 4.90% in the year-ago quarter. The capital adequacy ratio based on Basel III norms was 18.61% at the end of March, up from 17.43% a quarter ago and 18.49% a year ago.

 

The state-owned bank will pay a dividend of INR 0.44 per share for the financial year 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). Its board has approved raising up to INR 50 billion through the issuance of various bonds in multiple tranches in FY27. The board has also given its go-ahead to raise INR 27 billion equity capital by issuing 2.7 billion shares in multiple tranches during FY27.

For FY26, the bank's net profit was INR 27.68 billion, up over 13% on year. The total income for FY26 was INR 297.41 billion, up nearly 1% on year. Friday, its shares closed 0.6% lower at INR 26.47 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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