The Kerala State Cooperative Bank has showcased robust performance across various financial parameters for the fiscal year 2023-24, except in its deposits portfolio, which fell by more than Rs 6,000 crore.
The bank’s profit surged more than tenfold, rising from Rs 20.05 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal year to an impressive Rs 209.13 crore in 2023-24.
In an exclusive interview with the Indian Cooperative correspondent, the bank CEO Jorty M. Chacko said, “One of the key factors contributing to this substantial profit growth was the bank’s rigorous effort to address non-performing assets (NPAs). The bank implemented stringent measures against defaulting borrowers, leading to the recovery of around Rs 1,000 crore from NPA accounts”, he said.
He further added, in the current financial year also, we have set a target to recover more than Rs 2000 crore. This decisive action will significantly improve the bank’s financial health and asset quality.
On the query related to the decrease in deposits, Chacko said, “The decline in deposits is primarily due to the liquidity crunch faced by Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Society (PACS) in the state. PACS play a significant role in the deposit mobilization process”, he noted.
“The bank has introduced various initiatives to attract more deposits, including competitive interest rates and customer-centric schemes”, he added.
Highlighting his future goals in taking the bank to new heights, he said, “We have made an ambitious plan for the future. We have set a target of achieving advances of more than Rs 6000 crore and will focus on rationalization of branches. This initiative aims to optimize branch operations and improve efficiency, ensuring that the bank can better serve its customers and manage resources effectively, he stressed.
“Additionally, we plan to allocate 30 percent of our lending to the agriculture sector. By focusing on agricultural lending, the bank aims to support a vital sector of the state’s economy and contribute to rural development”, he added.
Coming to the bank’s balance sheet, “The deposits of the bank decreased from Rs 74,152 crore (2022-23 FY) to Rs 67,978 crore as on 31st March 2024 whereas loans & advances rose from Rs 47,052 crore to Rs 48,603 crore in 2023-24 FY”.
The total business of the bank decreased from Rs 1.21 lakh crore (2022-23) to Rs 1.16 lakh crore (2023-24). Besides, the CD Ratio and CRAR stood at 71.50 percent and 10.18 percent respectively.
The net and gross NPA levels of the bank declined from 7.93 percent to 6.63 percent and 12.35 percent to 11.45 percent in the 2023-24 FY respectively. The net NPA and Gross NPA stood at Rs 3,223 crore and Rs 5,564 crore as on 31st March 2024 respectively.. The net worth of the bank stood at Rs 2,774 crore.
Kerala State Cooperative Bank has seven Regional Offices, a Corporate Business Office at Ernakulam and Credit Processing Centres in 13 Districts across the state. At present, Kerala Bank has 769 branches across the state.
