J&K Bank clarifies misgivings

Srinagar, May 30 (KMW): Jammu and Kashmir Bank has appreciated the concern that has been expressed by its stakeholders in response to the ‘baseless news report’ that has appeared in one of the news dailies today.

According to a statement issued to KMW, a public relations officer of the JK Bank has said: “We feel it expedient to clarify the misgivings arising out of the said news report. As far as the balance sheet of your bank is concerned it is being managed with prudence. Our prudent management of balance sheet can be substantiated by non-volatility of earnings for more than last 5 years; we have been showing a consistent growth in profits in highly stressed economic conditions from 2008 to 2013 when the whole industry was experiencing earning volatility. For last many quarters, stress in assets has been rampant across the banking industry. In March, 2014, we hadgross NPL’s around 783 Cr while as the Net NPL’s were 102 Cr.”
He added: “But there is a marked difference between the stressed assets and Non Performing Loans. Normally, decision to declare an asset as non-performing has to be taken in accordance with the prescribed guidelines of the regulator, borrowers’ repayment history and market credibility. As a responsible corporate, we have been following all the prudential guidelines as stipulated by RBI for declaring sticky loans as NPA’s or restructuring advances. Besides our restructured asset portfolio graph is witnessing a downward trend. Currently it hovers around Rs 1500 Cr which is quite normal as per industry standards.”
The statement reads: “Moreover, while declaring any advance as stressed, restructured or NPA we follow laid down processes and procedures which are quite robust and in accord with prescribed regulations and industry best practices. We have been consistently prudent when it comes to deal with stressed/non performing loans. Like in case of Kingfisher, when big banks struggled to recover their loan from the grounded Airlines, we got back 90% of our loan.”
It adds: “J&K Bank is subjected to a robust audit process including Statutory Audit through auditors appointed by CAG and Annual Financial Inspection by RBI. The accounting policies pertaining to determination of NPAs have been followed and auditors have done their scrutiny thoroughly, which has been expressed in their reports. It is only a figment of someone’s imagination to fancy that one can evade the scrutiny from strong audit processes stipulated by the regulator and the industry.”
The public relations officer of the bank ha said, “Let me reiterate, we stand on a solid foundation of trust and credibility since last 75 years which is reflective of our success. We assure you all that your bank has robust procedures and systems in place to check deviation, if any, instantly in the conduct of business procedures. Moreover, we believe that trust of our stakeholders is the most valued asset we have and we will continue to have that.” (KMW)