UCO Bank has opened four special rupee vostro accounts, received RBI approval for opening 8 more

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UCO Bank has opened four special rupee vostro accounts with Russian banks so far and has received permission from Reserve Bank of India for opening eight more accounts. Of these eight, six are with Russian banks and two are with banks in Belarus, said Ashwani Kumar, MD & CEO, UCO Bank.

Further, it has received interest from four more banks for opening special rupee vostro accounts. “We have already opened four special rupee vostro accounts so far and have received RBI permission for opening eight more such accounts, which we will be opening soon. This apart, four more banks have expressed interest for opening accounts. We will approach RBI for seeking their permission,” Kumar told newspersons at a virtual press conference to announce the bank’s financial performance during the first quarter on Friday.

Though the volume of transaction under these accounts is still small, it is expected to pick up in the days to come once the level of awareness increases, he said.

UCO Bank has registered around 81 per cent growth in net profit at ₹223 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2023, as against ₹124 crore same period last year on the back of higher core income and lower provisioning.

NII, NIM up

Net Interest Income (NII) increased by around 22 per cent at ₹2,009 crore in Q1FY24 as against ₹1,650 crore last year. Net interest margin (NIM) improved to 2.86 per cent as on June 30, 2023 as against 2.74 per cent same period last year.

The bank’s total deposits grew by nearly 11 per cent at ₹2,49,694 crore during the quarter under review while advances grew by 25 per cent at ₹1,64,278 crore. Growth in credit was primarily driven by retail, agriculture and MSME sectors, Kumar said.

The credit to deposit (CD) ratio improved to 65.79 per cent as on June 30, 2023 as against 58.29 per cent last year. On the asset quality front, gross non performing asset (NPA) improved to 4.48 per cent during the quarter under review as against 7.42 per cent last year while net NPA improved to 1.18 per cent (2.49 per cent).

Provision coverage ratio improved to 94.88 per cent (91.96 per cent). The bank’s scrip closed at ₹28.78, down by 1.47 per cent on the BSE on Friday.