State-owned UCO Ltd.'s losses widened in the March ended quarter as deterioting asset quality forced the lender to make higher provisions for bad loans.
Net loss rose to Rs 2,134.36 crore from Rs 588.19 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, according to its stock exchange filing.
Asset quality worsened as gross non-performing assets of the public sector bank rose to 24.64 percent of total assets from 20.64 percent in the previous quarter. The ratio of net bad loans increased to 13.10 percent from 10.9 percent in the same period. Provisions against bad loans almost doubled to Rs 3,133.52 crore as compared to the same quarter last year.
The lender had in March invited bids from asset reconstruction companies, banks, non-banking financial companies and other financial institutions to clean up bad assets on its book. The Kolkata-based UCO Bank said it had identified about 13 NPA accounts with outstanding balance of Rs 457.98 crore and invited expressions of interest for the proposed sale of its NPAs by March 13, according to a PTI report.
Shares of the lender rose 1.6 percent on the BSE prior to the earnings announcement.
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