Saraswat Cooperative Bank, which ranked as the World’s Best Bank 2021 by Forbes Survey, has crossed the business turnover of Rs 67,042 crore and earned a gross profit of Rs 728.05 crore in the 2020-21 financial Year, which is the highest ever in the history of the bank.
The bank also announced plans to conduct its AGM on 30th September 2021 and the declaration of the financial figures will be announced on the same day.
“It has been a year of lockdowns and tremendous uncertainties; yet it has also been a year of hope and resilience -a year which tested our abilities and brought out the best in us”, said the bank’s Chairman, Gautam Thakur in his message to Share-holders.
“Considering the severity of the economic slowdown and the uncertainties, the overall business growth has been noteworthy. While attaining this growth, the bank has also kept a firm check on the quality of the Balance Sheet. The key financial parameters like Capital Adequacy Ratio, NPA Ratio, Provision Coverage Ratio, etc. have been maintained at healthy levels”, Thakur underlined.
Thakur further says “Even at the height of the pandemic, the bank has delivered commendable growth results, keeping all banking parameters intact, in fact with some even improved over the last year. For the FY 2020-21, the bank’s Net Profit has increased from Rs 250.79 in 2019-20 from Rs 270.24 crore in 2020-21. While most banks are waging war with NPAs, our position is confidence boosting”, he added.
It is true that despite all the challenges, the business of the bank has increased from Rs 63,422.13 crore as on 31st March, 2020 to Rs 67,042.31 crore as on 31st March, 2021. Deposits increased from Rs 38,083.49 crore as on 31st March, 2020 to Rs 40,800.61 crore as on 31st March, 2021 and advances grew from Rs 25,338.64 crore as on 31st March, 2020 to Rs 26,241.70 crore as on 31st March 2021, reveals the financial report.
The net NPA of the bank decreased from 1.56 percent to 1.04 percent as on 31st March 2020-21.
The own funds of the bank have risen from Rs 3,522.04 crore as on 31st March, 2020 to Rs 3,953.70 crore as on 31st March, 2021 i.e. a rise of Rs 431.66 crore. The Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) stands at 14.26% as on 31st March, 2021, much higher than the 9% stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India.
In this year the Bank started many new initiatives aimed at making the UCB more focussed and successful. Some of these are segregation of branches as marketing verticals and back offices as operational verticals, strengthening the team of business development officers which has garnered around Rs 900 crore during the year.
The new initiative also encompasses Board and the Management levels. An effort is being made at the highest level to reduce the time lag between customers approaching the bank for a loan and the final sanction/disbursement of the loan. Besides, to cater to the needs of the new age customers, the Bank plans to increase the bouquet of digital product offerings.
It bears repeating that the Saraswat Bank has been recognized amongst the World’s Best Banks by the prestigious Forbes survey for two years in a row. It has also bagged the “Best Technology Bank” Award for the 5th consecutive year at Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) Technology Awards 2021 in the cooperative banking sector, along with an award for Best IT Risk & Cyber Security Initiatives and Runner-Up for Best Digital Financial Inclusion Initiatives.
Meanwhile, the election process to elect a new Board in the Saraswat Bank is underway and the polling will be held on 24 September 2021.