Syndicate Bank to cut gross NPA to below 2 %

These were about Rs.1,800 crore in recoveries for 2013-14 and the bank seeks to improve this further this fiscal.

Syndicate Bank, on Wednesday, indicated that it was confident of curtailing slippages during the current fiscal and targets to reduce its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) below 2 per cent by next year.

Slippages

Slippages in the fourth quarter of 2013-14 increased to about Rs.1,200 crore from Rs.690 crore in the preceding quarter. The overall slippages for the whole of 2013-14 were about Rs.3,600 crore plus as against Rs.2,142 crore in the previous year. “Two big accounts worth Rs.400 crore slipped on the last day of the fiscal and hence the slippages were higher. Otherwise slippages will mostly be in Rs.10 lakh and below accounts and we are having a close watch,” said Anjaneya Prasad, Executive Director, Syndicate Bank, here.

Meanwhile, the bank has also been boosting its recoveries. These were about Rs.1,800 crore in 2013-14 and the bank seeks to improve this further this fiscal.

Mr. Prasad also said the bank would lay stronger thrust on bringing down the gross NPA to below 2 per cent by next year. In 2013-14, the bank’s gross NPA ratio increased to 2.65 per cent (highest in the past 5-6 years). He said the performance wasn’t really bad given the turbulent economic scenario in the country.

Growth outlook

On the growth outlook for the current fiscal, it expects to register a rise of 20 per cent in total business at Rs.4.79-lakh crore.

The bank is in the process of despatching appointment letters to about 2,000 people. It plans to hire another 2,000 people during this fiscal to support its branch expansion.