Govt ask 10 public sector bank to cut staff benefits

The government has asked 10 public sector banks (PSB) to curtail employee benefits, including industry-standard pay hikes, if these want to receive any capital.The Centre wants these banks to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the employees’ unions to get a commitment on this. If the unions agree, benefits such as leave travel concessions and perks could go for a few years till the banks returned to health.

All three Kolkata-based banks — United Bank of India, UCO Bank and Allahabad Bank — have got this diktat. The letter has also gone to Indian Overseas Bank, Vijaya Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Dena Bank, sources said.

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14 banks selected for facilitating government payments

 As part of facilitating payments to the government through banks (instead of depending on treasuries), it has shortlisted 14 banks. With effect from February 1, all payments received at the field offices of various government departments - including village offices, taluka offices, and sub-registrar offices - can be remitted to any branch of the banks that have been short-listed. Till date, government offices had to remit the money at the nearest branch of treasury or treasury branches of three banks.

The order issued by finance department on Tuesday said that during the initial stage, the facility will be extended to the public who can remit money at the banks directly, instead of remitting the same at government offices.

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UCO Bank Q3 result, posts loss shrinks 71% to Rs 437 cr

Public lender UCO Bank 's net loss narrowed by a huge 71 per cent to Rs 437.09 crore for the quarter ended December on lower provisions for bad loans. 

The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 1,497.01 crore for the same quarter in the previous fiscal. Net income fell 1.4 per cent to Rs 4,864.21 crore during the quarter, from Rs 4,934.63 crore a year ago. Provisions to cover bad loans and contingencies were at Rs 1,326.05 crore, down from Rs 2,360.84 crore in the previous fiscal. 

But the bank continued to grapple with high bad loan ratio, with gross net-performing assets firming up to 17.18 per cent of gross advances as on December 31, from 10.98 per cent a year earlier. 

Net NPAs came in at 8.09 per cent, up from 6.51 per cent, on a yearly basis. In absolute terms, gross NPAs rose to Rs 22,181.26 crore for the period from the earlier Rs 14,931.80 crore. 

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UCO Bank Q2 result, net loss at Rs 384.83 crore

UCO Bank   today reported a net loss of Rs 384.83 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, on account of higher provisions for bad loans. 

The Bank had registered a net profit of Rs 156.2 crore in the July-September period of previous fiscal 2015-16. 

Total income of the bank decreased by 6.90 percent to Rs 4,941.41 crore during the quarter under review, from Rs 5,308.08 crore over the same period of 2014-15. 

For quarter under review, UCO Bank's provision for bad loans and contingencies jumped by 62.96 percent to Rs 1,488.34 crore as against Rs 913.27 crore a year ago. 

Asset quality slipped further during the period with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 16.51 percent of gross advances as of September 2015, up from 8.51 percent a year ago. Net NPAs or bad loans too increased to 8.83 percent during the second quarter, up from 5.15 percent a year ago.

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UCO Bank Q1 result, Loss Rs 440.57 crore

Public sector lender UCO Bank on Tuesday reported a net loss of Rs 440.57 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 256.70 crore in the year-ago period.

"The loss was on account of higher provisioning and lower operating profit," said bank's MD and CEO R.K. Takkar.

He said bank's fresh slippages in the quarter under review stood at about Rs 3,116 crore, up from Rs 1,252 crore in the corresponding period last year.

In the quarter, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank were at Rs 22,597.70 crore as compared to Rs 10,894.41 crore in the corresponding quarter. The bank's net NPA ratio in the June quarter rose to 10.04% as against 4.53% in the year-ago period.

The bank has already put NPAs with a total outstanding amount of Rs 1,767 crore on sale to clean up its balance sheet and invited Expression of Interest (EOI) from asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), banks, financial institutions and eligible NBFCs for the proposed sale of its 22 NPA accounts.

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UCO Bank posts Rs 1,715 crore in Q4 loss as bad loans surge

UCO Bank on Friday reported a net loss of Rs.1,715.16 crore for the March quarter due to high provisions and low net interest income and other income.

This was the second consecutive quarter when the bank reported a net loss. The bank reported a profit of Rs.209.28 crore a year ago.

Net interest income (NII), or the core income a bank earns by giving loans, fell 26.85% to Rs.933.11 crore from Rs.1,275.67 crore in the same quarter last year. Non-interest income fell 41.47% to Rs.387.80 crore from Rs.662.55 crore in the same period last year.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose 103.68% to Rs.20,907.73 crore at the end of the March quarter from Rs.10,265.05 crore a year ago. The bank reported gross NPAs of Rs.14,931.80 a quarter ago.

Provisions and contingencies jumped 142.14% to Rs.2,344.80 crore in the quarter, from Rs.968.38 crore a year ago. In the December quarter, the bank reported provisions of Rs.2,360.84 crore.

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