UCO Bank gets fundraising approval for Rs 3,000 crore in FY21

Kolkata-based public sector undertaking, UCO Bank, informed on Thursday that its board has approved the fundraising of Rs 3,000 crore during the financial year 2020-21.

The bank said in a statement that for the current financial year, it will raise these funds via follow on public offer (FPO), qualified institutional placement (QIP), preferential issue, etc. The fundraising will be one of its focal points as there might be a higher credit demand in the economic revival, going ahead. It has witnessed strong recovery in bad loan and loan book growth in the recent few quarters. Owing to efforts at the operational efficiency and fundraising activities, its capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.70 per cent. Further, with an 85 per cent provision coverage ratio, the bad loan-related safety remains high.

In the recently reported financial numbers of Q4FY20, it reported a profit of Rs 16.78 crore, which is the first time since the September quarter in 2015. The bank has shown signs of improvements in FY20. Its gross NPA steadily declined to 16.77 per cent from as high as 25 per cent at the end of FY19. The slippages, increase in new bad loans, declined by 31 per cent during FY20.

Currently, the stock is trading at Rs 14.27 on BSE.