UCO Bank is planning to sell some of its stressed assets

Source : BL :Priya Nair:Remya Nair:Mumbai, Nov. 30.2010

UCO Bank is planning to sell some of its stressed assets as part of its efforts to improve the asset quality.

“We are looking to sell Rs 280 crore of stressed assets. Within the next 10-15 days, we should be able to finalise one deal. We will sell more of these stressed assets so that we can reduce the portfolio,” said Mr Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

The bank will look to sell at least one more tranche in the near future, he said.

“The NPAs are slightly on the higher side. Slippages are very large. For six months, slippages are nearly Rs 1,100 crore. Gross NPAs have gone above 2.3 per cent as on September-end. So we are making a lot of efforts to improve the quality of assets”, said Mr Kaul.

He said the bank is targeting to bring down gross NPAs below 2 per cent this fiscal.

In the second quarter, a large amount of the NPAs have come from the agriculture waiver and debt relief scheme. Over the next two quarters, there is unlikely to be any abnormal slippages, Mr Kaul said.

The bank has created a separate recovery vertical that will focus purely on recovery of bad loans.

“Ordinary branches have so many other functions that have to be done. So this function gets diluted. We have created separate 5-6 stressed asset branches which will focus on recovery of bad loans. These branches will report directly to the head office, thereby ensuring quick decisions are taken,” said Mr Kaul.

These branches will handle large NPA accounts for above Rs 1 crore or so. Besides the separate branches, the bank is also planning to set up recovery camps, lok adalats and engaging recovery agents. The bank has set an internal target of Rs 1,300-1,400 crore for recovery from bad loans.

UCO Bank is also setting up specialised branches for disbursing credit to large corporates to ensure that these do not become bad loans due to bad underwriting.

“NPA creation is partly due to the skill sets available in banks. So we are creating specialised branch known as flagship corporate credit known for large corporate credit”, he said. While for the retail segment, the bank is setting up the central processing units, for more efficient monitoring.

IOB cuts NPAs in Karnataka by Rs 200 cr in first half

— G.R.N. Somashekar 
 
Optimistic of recovery:Mr M Narendra (right), CMD, Indian Overseas Bank, and Mr Ranganath, GM, Bangalore Region, addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Friday.

Source :Business line  Bureau:Bangalore, Dec 3.2010

Indian Overseas Bank has brought down its NPAs in Karnataka by about Rs 200 crore during the first half of this fiscal and it currently stands at around Rs 500 crore.

“We expect substantial recovery before March this year,” said Mr M Narendra, Chairman, Indian Overseas Bank.

Tourism projects

Addressing a press conference here, he saidthe bank's exposure to the real estate sector was around Rs 400 crore. “Recovery in this sector has been slow because of the recession and we are confident that we would be able step up the recovery soon,” he said.

Advances to real estate and housing sector in the state areabout Rs 240 crore as of September 30, 2010.

Participation in the State tourism projects, SEZs and infrastructure projects will be the focus for the Chennai-based bank during the year.

Mr Narendra said the bank was ‘interested' in participating in infrastructure projects such as steel, cement and power in the State. “We also want to tap the sugar belt in the state by opening branches in Belgaum and Bagalkot and industrial areas like Jigani and Bidadi,” he said.

Deposits, advances

The banks' total deposits in the State stand at Rs 5830 crore and advances at Rs 3153 crore. Priority sector advance is around Rs 624 crore and agricultural advances about Rs 249 crore. IOB has 83 branches and 41 ATMs in Karnataka.

The bank which has an employee pool of around 26,000 people plans to recruit about 1600 people (1100 clerks and 500 specialist officers) during the current year and about 100 new hires would be in the state, Mr Narendra said.

SBI settles 13 cases at Lok Adalat

 Source :TNN, Nov 29, 2010, 01.53am IST:PATNA:
The State Bank of India (SBI) held a two-day Lok Adalat here under the Debt Recovery Tribunal scheme. 

DGM, Network 11, Y K Lumba personally supervized the proceedings of the programme along with AGM S B Kanth and other officials. 

According to chief manager N P Singh, as many as 13 cases were settled at the Adalat which concluded on Sunday. 


The SBI recovered about Rs 3.5 crore by way of mutual settlement at the Adalat, he said, adding the SBI would continue to hold such kind of Adalats not only to recover dues from the borrowers, but also to facilitate those customers who have failed to pay dues to the bank for a long time.