Kolkata-based UCO Bank has put on hold its expansion plans in China and Malaysia due to the high capital involved.
The bank, which had initially planned to upgrade its representative offices, has closed down its offices in these two countries last year, according to Mr Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director, UCO Bank.
“We were not getting permission to open branches there. Hence, the opportunity was not very large while the capital adequacy requirement was extremely strict,” he told newspersons after the bank’s ninth annual general meeting here on Tuesday.
The bank currently has four overseas branches — two in Singapore and two in Hong Kong.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the bank posted 35 per cent growth in its total income from these overseas branches to Rs 88 crore, as compared to Rs 65 crore during the same period last year. Total assets (loan and investment) grew by 30 per cent to Rs 13,147 crore during the same period.
Capital Requirement
UCO Bank would require capital infusion to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore under Basel III for the next five years, Mr Kaul said.
“In terms of Basel III we have assessed our capital requirement for next five years to be around Rs 14,000 crore. We are looking at various options to raise funds. In addition, we are focusing on lending to retail, SME and farm sectors where the capital to risk-weight is lower," he said.