Uco Bank gains over 2% on double-digit growth in gross advances in Q4FY24

Shares of UCO Bank Ltd gained 2.5% on Tuesday, April 9, after the public sector lender reported a nearly 16% jump in advances for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24.

The public sector lender in its business update for the March quarter and full financial year 2023-24 (FY24) filed with the stock exchanges reported that its advances increased 15.92% to ₹1.87 lakh crore in the March quarter against ₹1.62 lakh crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Its gross advances also increased marginally quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) compared to ₹1.79 lakh crore in the December quarter.

Its domestic advances increased 16.62% to ₹1.63 lakh crore in the March quarter against ₹1.39 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

After the announcement of strong business updates for Q4FY24, UCO Bank shares jumped up to 2.5% in to hit an intraday high of ₹57.2 apiece on the NSE. However, the stock pared early gains to trade at ₹56.1 apiece, up 0.54%, at 1:08 pm.

Shares of UCO Bank have gained more than 38% in the last three months and over 40% in the past year.

UCO Bank reported a total business of ₹4.5 lakh crore for the Q4FY24 , up by 9.62% compared to the year-ago period.

The bank’s total deposits increased 5.53% to ₹2.63 lakh crore in the March quarter compared to ₹2.49 lakh crore in the Q4FY23.

The bank’s CASA (current account saving account) rose by 7.76% to ₹0.98 lakh crore on Q$ of FY24 against ₹0.91 lakh crore in the year ago quarter. CASA helps banks maintain liquidity.

CASA ratio improved to 39.25% in Q4 of FY24 from 37.82 % in Q4 of FY23. Its cash deposit ratio (CDR) was higher at 71.20% against 64.82 % a year ago. A high cash deposit ratio shows how much the bank uses from its total cash deposits for lending, indicating the health of core banking of the lender.

UCO Bank also stated that its promoter, the government, has not made any encumbrances on shares held during 2023-24.