City-based UCO Bank's net profit trebled to Rs 314.53 crore in the third quarter ended December 31 on the back of higher interest income, better margins and lower provisioning.
The bank's net profit stood at Rs 102.47 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Commenting on the results, bank's Chairman and managing director of UCO Bank Arun Kaul told reporters here that the rise in the net profit was due to higher interest income, better margins and lower provisioning.
"The bank's strong operating performance helped earnings growth during the quarter. The bank has taken a lot of strategic initiatives that are paying dividends.
"We have shifted focus to low-risk retail advances, stepped up loan recovery and selling non-performing assets (to asset reconstruction companies)," Kaul said.
Gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio declined by 33 basis points from a year ago to 5.20 per cent. The bank sold Rs 322 crore bad loans during the third quarter and has put another Rs 1,900 crore in the block.
About outlook for the fourth quarter, Kaul said that the credit and advance growth would be growing in the region of 16 per cent, while Net Interest Margin would show an improvement.
