Kolkata-based UCO Bank is pinning its hope on the next financial year to return to profitability as the lender posted a net loss in the last fiscal, a top official of the bank said.
The bank has prepared a strategy not to take any fresh exposure to large corporate firms, focus on retail lending and augment its capital base by raising as much as Rs 5,000 crore by way of bonds and government fund infusion, chairman and managing director, UCO Bank, R K Takkar said at the 13th annual general meeting of the bank.
Sources said the lender contemplates to raise around Rs 3,000 crore by way of bonds in the current fiscal. According to Takkar, the bank expects a fund infusion of Rs 2,000 crore from the government.
UCO bank is also planning to sell 20 loan accounts with loans of around Rs 2,000 crore to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in the next few quarters to clean up its balance sheet.
As on March 31, the lender’s gross NPA ratio stood at 15.43 per cent while the gross NPAs in absolute term was Rs 20,908 crore.
