Saraswat Bank marching towards the Milestone of `50,000 crore

Saraswat Bank marching towards the Milestone of `50,000 crore

Mangalore Today News Network

July 28, 2015: The largest Co-operative Bank, Saraswat Bank, has again delivered good financials during the FY 2014-15, in spite of the banking industry continuing to face strong headwinds in the form of slow growth in credit off-take, higher interest rates, thinning of profit margins and rising NPAs. The Bank has declared its financial results at the 97th Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders held recently.

 

Shri Shashikant K. Sakhalkar, Chairman, Saraswat Bank addressing the Shareholders at the 97th Annual General Meeting of the Bank at B. N. Vaidya Sabhagruha, Dadar, Mumbai. On his right is the Vice Chairman, Shri Gautam E. Thakur and on his left is the Managing Director, Shri Samirkumar Banerji.

The Bank’s Business has increased by 14.11% to Rs 44,968.96 crore, wherein Deposits grew by 13.5% to `27,170.84 crore and Advances increased by 15.05% to `17,798.12 crore, higher than the banking industry average of 11.85% and 10.16% respectively. CASA deposits have increased by `796.92 crore, though the CASA deposits to total deposits ratio remains at the same level at 24.73%. Net Profit grew by 29.29% from `147.09 crore in FY 2013-14 to `190.18 crore. The Bank has declared an increased Dividend of 15% as against 10% in FY 2013-14.

Gross NPAs reduced from 4.69% to 4.02%, much lower than quite a few private and public sector banks. Net NPA Ratio stood at a meager 0.67%, however, the Provision Coverage Ratio stood at 83.94%, well above the 70% stipulated by RBI for Scheduled Commercial Banks over a period of time. The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CRAR) of the Bank improved from 12.11% to 12.57% during FY 2014-15. The Bank was presented with a number of prestigious Awards during the year including ‘Best IT-Enabled Co-operative Bank among Co-operative Banks’ by the IDRBT at the hands of Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, RBI Governor.

Presently, the Bank has a footprint of 267 branches spread across six states viz. Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the National Capital and will be adding 20 more new branches during the current year. Besides, the Bank will be launching more products and services on the digital platform, including mobile wallets, tab banking, etc.

The Bank is geared up and confident of surpassing its business target of `50,000 crore by 31st March, 2016.