State-run Uco Bank is aiming to recover bad loans of around Rs 4,000 crore this fiscal as the lender is mainly focussing on recovery in order to be back on the profit path, its MD & CEO RK Takkar said on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media after the 15th annual general meeting of the bank here, Takkar said he was hopeful of the bank registering profit and coming out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the next two years.
RBI had initiated a PCA against the city-based bank in May last year in view of high non-performing assets and negative return on assets (RoAs). As provisioning for stressed assets increased, during the last fiscal it incurred a net loss of `4,436 crore compared to `1,851 crore for the previous fiscal.
On the bank’s strategy to become profitable, Takkar said, “We are looking at various avenues — main is recovery. Our PCR (Provisioning Coverage Ratio) is quite healthy at more than 60%. So, once NCLT resolutions happen, either through OTS (one-time settlement) or normal recovery channels, it will help us not only reducing our NPAs but also writing back the provisions and booking some profit, depending on how much haircut we will have to take.”
Uco Bank has exposures to nine of the 12 large stressed accounts, identified by the RBI last year to get resolved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The bank’s overall exposure to these nine accounts is around Rs 4,300 crore.
“All these 12 accounts are in the advance stages of resolution proceedings. For Bhushan Steel and Electrosteel Steels we have already received the money. In Bhushan Steel case, our bank has to take around 35% haircut,” Takkar said.
Earlier, addressing to the shareholders at the AGM, the MD said the major focus of the bank was to reduce non-performing assets (NPAs) and check further slippages.
“The bank will continue its efforts to recover bad loans through account specific strategies. The bank expects to recover a major amount in NPAs through NCLT resolutions,” he added.
The lender’s total cash recovery plus upgradation for the last financial year stood at `4290.12 crore. However, this reduction in NPAs through cash recovery and upgradation was over 32% less than that of FY17.