United Bank hits new low after CMD quits

Stock hits a new low of Rs 23.40 today after the CMD took a voluntary retirement on concerns over rising non-performing assets

United Bank of India has extended losses and hit a new low of Rs 23.40 today after the chairperson and managing director Archana Bhargava took a voluntary retirement. Her resignation comes at a time when the state-run lender is saddled with losses and rising non-performing assets.

The state-owned bank registered a net loss of Rs 1,238 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013 (Q3), due to higher provisioning for bad loans. The state-owned lender had profit of Rs 42 crore in a year ago quarter.

Its gross NPA as a percentage of advances, increased to 10.82% from 4.42%, while net NPA rose to 7.44% from 2.22% during the quarter under review.

The bank has set aside Rs 1,858 crore in the December quarter towards non-performing assets (NPA), which is over four times of Rs 450 crore it provided for bad loans in the same period a year ago.

Over 1.2 million shares were traded on both the stock exchanges so far.