UCO Bank Q1 Results: Profit Up 10% To Rs 607 Crore

State-run UCO Bank on Monday reported a 10.16% 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%, disproportionately lower than required, further contributing to profitability," he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The bank intends to grow its corporate loan book in the range of 12-14% 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 declining to 2.63% from 3.32% a year ago, while net NPA fell to 0.45% from 0.78%.

The provision coverage ratio stood at 96.88%.

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

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.