In 1998-99, net NPA (non-performing assets) as percentage of net advances declined from 11.14 per cent to 10.83 per cent. Gross NPA was 22.55 per cent against 24.04 per cent in 1997-98. In absolute terms, gross NPA came down to Rs 1548 crore from Rs 1560 crore in the previous year.

Fresh generation of NPAs was brought down to Rs 178 crore from Rs 238 crore in 1997-98, Raghupati said. He added that this was expected to be brought further down to Rs 100 crore in 1999-2000 while gross NPAs should come down to Rs 1500 crore. Total provisioning in 1998-99 was Rs 696 crore as against Rs 771 crore in 1997-98.Additional provisioning for NPAs was Rs 85 crore as against Rs 132.87 crore in the previous fiscal.

Write-offs in 1998-99 amounted to Rs 163 crore (including Rs 40 crore in London) as against Rs 201 crore in 1997-98. Operating expenses increased by Rs 58 crore largely owing to DA increases of about Rs 40 crore, Raghupati clarified.

The capital adequacy of the bank improved from 9.07 per cent to 9.63 per cent owing to fresh capital infusion of Rs 200 crore by the Government of India. The total paid-up capital of the bank as on March 31, 1999, is Rs 2264.52 crore.

The bank's total deposits and advances increased by 17 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. The recovery/reduction in NPA was nearly Rs 190 crore. Raghupati said that the bank was expecting some positive contribution from the now closed London branch as "recoveries are still taking place. We expect to recover Rs 6 crore to Rs 10 crore either from NPAs or sale of fixed assets."

Total income from investments amounted to Rs 909.77 crore, anincrease of 16.26 per cent over the previous year. The yield on investments in 1998-99 was 12.45 per cent against 12.17 per cent in the previous year. The average cost of deposits also declined from 8.45 per cent to 8.32 per cent. The bank's spread as a percentage of working funds improved from 2.13 per cent to 2.29 per cent. Non-interest income increased by Rs 16 crore in 1998-99 against an increase of Rs 65 crore in 1997-98. Non-interest income as percentage of working funds stood at 1.03 per cent.

The bank's two overseas centres (in Hong Kong and Singapore) contributed an aggregate net profit of Rs 22.67 crore as against Rs 26 crore in 1997-98. The per employee business generated by the bank went up from Rs 65.92 lakh to Rs 73 lakh in 1998-99. The bank took up a "massive" credit expansion programme in the middle market segments through its schemes like Uco Shopper, Uco Super Shopper, Uco Shelter and Uco Trader.

The bank's board has also decided to restructure its administrative set-up by reducing thefour-tier structure to a three-tier one. The bank is going to have five operational head offices at Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Lucknow, which will be headed by general manager (operations).

In the new arrangement, the regional managers would be the main "focal points" for implementation of the bank's policy decisions. All state capitals would be headed by Scale V officers who will deal directly with matters relating to state governments and take on-the-spot decisions.