J&K Bank aims to achieve biz of ₹4 tn in 5 yrs: CEO Prakash

Jammu and Kashmir Bank has set a long-term goal of achieving ₹ 4,00,000 crore business in the next five years with annual profit of ₹4,000 crore, a top company official has said.

J&K Bank MD & CEO Baldev Prakash said the long- term objectives are backed by well thought out strategies and monitorable execution plans that would be periodically reviewed to ensure achievement of all interim milestones.

Prakash said the bank is also working on short-term goals like fixing monthly targets for each business line.

“In the longer term, we have set out a target for ourselves to achieve business of ₹ 4 lakh crore in the next five years with an annual profit of ₹ 4,000 crore. We are aiming to bring our gross NPA to below 4% with a net NPA figure to one per cent level. The long-term target for our Return on Assets (RoA) is above 1%,” he said.

Prakash further said that,

“the broader objective would be to improve Bank’s market share from 0.63% to 0.75% in the country, while maintaining the dominance in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh.”On the speculations about the bank’s merger with a nationalised bank, Prakash said, “It’s purely a figment of some wild imagination.””With stronger fundamentals and improving key parameters, J&K Bank is moving ahead on a sustainable growth path. We have already rolled out our short to long-term plans, whose results would be evident for all the stakeholders in the next 2-3 years.

“And all I want to say is that as the Bank flourishes to regain its glory, you would see all these rumours silently being laid to rest,” Prakash told PTI in an emailed interview.

Speculations were rife that J& K Bank might be merged with a larger bank like the State Bank of India in the wake of arrest for former chairman Parvez Ahmad for alleged malpractices.

J&K Bank said its profits for the quarter ending June 30 had risen by 59% compared to corresponding period last fiscal.

Prakash said J&K Bank has formulated a business plan for FY 2022-23 well in advance for a proactive head start with monthly targets for each business line set for the first time.

“In our business plan for the current financial year, we have made a ‘Mission 2.22 lakh crore’ statement where we envisage to top a total deposits figure of ₹1.25 trillion, while the target for total advances is set at above ₹95,000 crore,” Prakash said.

He said while the focus on maintaining the liability mix with over 55% CASA ratio continues, improving quality, yield and diversification of Asset portfolio shall be pursued vigorously.

Prakash said the bank has set its eyes on Rest of India (ROI) business growth in terms of scaling up business operations with focus on retail, PSUs and good-rated corporate borrowers.

Innovations in Agri-allied activities are also opening new vistas for enterprising entrepreneurship and finance, he said.