Uco Bank on Tuesday reported an 86.2 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended March 31 on the back of improving asset quality.

Net profit of the public sector bank was Rs 581.24 crore during the quarter compared with Rs 312.18 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Total income was Rs 5,946.94 crore, up 36.34 per cent from Rs 4,361.63 crore a year ago. Gross NPA ratio of the bank as of March 31, 2023 was at 4.78 per cent compared with 7.89 per cent as of March 31, 2022 and 5.63 per cent as of December 31, 2022.

The board of directors of Uco Bank on Tuesday approved raising Rs 2,000 crore in 2023-24 from market sources in one or more tranches.

The bank’s managing director and CEO Soma Sankara Prasad said the bank is looking to tap into the market sources to bring down the government holding which had touched 95.39 per cent as of March 31.

“In the last one year the share price of the bank has also significantly improved. We wanted to test the capital market by raising equity. So, we are going to the AGM seeking approval to raise Rs 2,000 crore,” Prasad said.

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank as of March 31, 2023 was at 16.51 per cent, marking an improvement from 13.74 per cent as of March 31, 2022.

The bank has also posted its highest ever annual net profit of Rs 1,862.34 crore for 2022-23 against Rs 929.76 crore in 2021-22.

Prasad said that the bank has received interest from at least 10-12 banks to open vostro accounts.

The RBI had last year allowed Indian banks to open rupee vostro accounts of the corresponding banks of the partner trading country.

Shares of Uco Bank climbed 2 per cent to Rs 30.72 at the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.