UCO Bank Q3

Public sector lender UCO Bank announced a whopping 206.95% y-o-y jump in its net profit to Rs 314.53 Cr for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, from Rs 102.47 Cr in the year-ago period. This was largely on the account of a more than 36% jump in its operating profit. The Kolkata-headquartered bank’s asset quality also improved as the gross as well as net non-performing assets (NPAs) were trimmed. The bank’s operating profit rose to Rs 1,137 Cr for the third quarter this fiscal against Rs 831 Cr in the year-ago period, on the back of a substantial rise in net interest income (NII). NII during the period under review stood at Rs 1,566 Cr against Rs 1,177 Cr in the year-ago period, registering 32.97% y-o-y growth. Retail lending saw a high growth, while corporate lending declined. UCO Bank CMD Arun Kaul attributed the more-than-three-fold rise in net profit to healthy growth in net interest income, rise in Casa ratio and a decrease in cost of funds.

Kharb Allahabad Bank's new ED

Allahabad Bank on Friday said Jal Karan Singh Kharb has joined the state-run lender as an executive director. He started his career with Dena Bank as a probationary officer in 1983 and was the general manager of the bank prior to this appointment. He is an LLB with CAIIB (II).

Central Bank of India's new ED

B K Divakara has taken charge as executive director at Central Bank of India. Prior to taking charge of the new assignment, he was working as general manager with Mangalore-based Corporation Bank, another public sector lender.

Karnataka Bank profit up 33%

Karnataka Bank saw its net profit grow 33.25% to 106.7 Cr in the third quarter of 2013-14. P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director, attributed the net profit growth to the 19.2% rise in net interest income and lower slippages compared to the first and second quarters of this fiscal. The NII increased to 271.50 Cr (227.80 Cr). The net NPA reached 2.23% (2.19%) during the period. On the outlook for the fourth quarter of 2013-14, he said: “We should grow better than all these three quarters, and we are looking at a guidance of around 2.75% for NIM (net interest margin) and return on assets (RoA) of 1%. The RoA was 0.96% for Q3 of 2013-14 and 0.71% for the nine-month period. The deposits stood at 38,683 Cr (34,620 Cr), and advances at 27,005 Cr (23,404 Cr). The bank’s effort to increase the retail loan book has started yielding results, he said.