UCO Bank Q1 net profit up 10% to Rs 607 cr

Kolkata: State-run UCO Bank on Monday reported a 10.16 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 607 crore for the April-June quarter of the 2025-26 financial year, driven by strong growth in advances and improved asset quality.

The lender had posted a profit of Rs 551 crore in the year-ago period.

UCO Bank MD and CEO Ashwini Kumar said the growth is primarily attributed to a rise in both total interest income and non-interest income.

"Interest income from advances alone increased from around Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 6,400 crore year-on-year. Additionally, operating expenses increased by only 4 per cent, disproportionately lower than required, further contributing to profitability," he said.

The guidance for net interest margin (NIM) has been revised downwards to a range of 2.9-3 per cent from the earlier projection of 3-3.10 per cent due to 'front-loading' loan repricing, he said.

The bank’s operating profit for the June quarter in the current fiscal rose 18.24 per cent to Rs 1,562 crore, while net interest income (NII) increased by 6.61 per cent to Rs 2,403 crore during the period, the lender said in a statement.

The total business grew 13.51 per cent to Rs 5,23,736 crore as of June 30, 2025, supported by a 16.48 per cent jump in gross advances to Rs 2,25,101 crore.

Deposits rose 11.37 per cent to Rs 2,98,635 crore, the Kolkata-headquartered bank said.

Net Interest margin for the quarter stood at 2.96 per cent, it said.

The growth in the retail, agriculture, and MSME (RAM) segment remained strong, with advances in this category rising 23.47 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,25,927 crore, the lender said.

Retail advances grew 30.73 per cent to Rs 56,195 crore, led by home and vehicle loans, which increased 17.92 per cent and 66.94 per cent, respectively.

The bank expects retail slippages to remain controlled and range-bound in the coming quarters, with no significant increase anticipated, the official said.

The domestic corporate advances stood at Rs 74,051 crore, a year-on-year growth of 14.61 per cent.

The bank intends to grow its corporate loan book in the range of 12-14 per cent in the upcoming quarters, Kumar said.

He stated that lending for startups is expected to gain traction with clarity on guarantee.

The asset quality saw an improvement with gross non-performing assets (NPA) declining to 2.63 per cent from 3.32 per cent a year ago, while net NPA fell to 0.45 per cent from 0.78 per cent.

The provision coverage ratio stood at 96.88 per cent.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 18.39 per cent, with Tier-I capital at 16.36 per cent.

As of June 30, 2025, the lender operated 3,305 branches, including two overseas branches in Hong Kong and Singapore, and had 16,803 customer touchpoints comprising ATMs and business correspondents.