Saraswat Bank, India’s largest Co-operative Bank, has again delivered good financials during the FY 2018-19, in spite of the banking industry continuing to face strong headwinds in the form of slow growth in credit off-take, thinning of profit margins and rising NPAs. The Bank declared its financial results at the 101st Annual General Meeting held recently at Mumbai.
Chairman, Mr. Gautam Thakur in his speech said that Saraswat Bank is proud to be the Number One Bank in the Co-operative Sector and would always aspire to be a leading light in the field of Co-operation. As the pre-eminent institution in the co-operative banking space, the Bank is proactively taking measures with foresight that will ensure its growth and stability.
The performance of the Bank over the last five years is as follows:
- The Deposits of the Bank grew from Rs 27171 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 36015 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 32.55%.
- The Advances rose from Rs 17798 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 25797 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 44.94%.
- Retail Assets grew from Rs 4095 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 9621 crore in 2018- 19, a rise of 134.95%.
- Total Business grew from Rs 44969 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 61812 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 37.45%.
- Net Profit per Employee rose from Rs 4.48 lakh in 2014-15 to Rs 6.71 lakh in 2018-19, a rise of 49.78%.
- Working Funds increased from Rs 31371 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 42915 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 36.80%.
- Own Funds of the Bank grew from Rs 2247crore in 2014-15 to Rs 3237 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 44.06%.
- Return on Average Assets grew from 0.61% in 2014-15 to 0.72% in 2018-19.
- Net Interest Margin grew from 2.41% in 2014-15 to 2.62% in 2018-19.
- The Net Profit of the Bank grew from Rs 190 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 291 crore in 2018-19, the highest ever in the history of the Bank, a rise of 53.16%!
Mr. Thakur said that, the Bank has launched three important projects during the year, i.e. Project Udaan, Project Niyantran and Project Satark to strengthen Bank’s systems, processes and control. Project Udaan is the Bank’s ambitious plan to migrate to new robust, scalable and secure Core Banking Systems. Project Niyantran will transform the Bank’s audit process to Risk Based Internal Audit and Project Satark will strengthen the information and cyber Security of the Bank.
The Bank was presented with a number of prestigious Awards during the year including ‘Winner (Best Bank)’ in the category of Technology Bank of the Year for the third consecutive year among co-operative banks from IBA Banking Technology Awards. It also received the ‘Best Data Quality on Consumer Bureau Award’ from TransUnion CIBIL.
More than 72% of the total transactions of the Bank happen through digital services. It is the first Bank in co-operative sector to launch digital products – Bank on WhatsApp, Bank on TAB, Cardless Cash Withdrawl, Saraswat Bank 100 and Gift Cards. Saraswat Bank has been a profit-making and dividend paying Bank for all the years of its existence.
Presently, the Bank has a footprint of 284 branches spread across six states viz. Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the National Capital Region. For the business growth, the Bank is looking at opening more branches in areas where it does not have its presence after receiving permission from Reserve Bank of India.
Gautam Ekanath Thakur Chairman, Saraswat Co-op. Bank Ltd. Shri Gautam Ekanath Thakur, Chairman, Saraswat Bank addressing the Shareholders at the 101st Annual General Meeting of the Bank at Ravindra Natyamandir, Prabhadevi, Mumbai. On his right is the Vice Chairman, Shri Shashikant K. Sakhalkar and on his left is the Managing Director, Mrs. Smita Sandhane.
