J&K Bank held the 82nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of its shareholders for the financial year (FY) 2019-20 through video-conferencing from its corporate headquarters in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Financial Commissioner Finance Department Dr Arun Kumar Mehta represented the J&K UT Government, the majority shareholder of the bank. Besides, the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) RK Chhibber, Directors on board of the bank, Executive Presidents, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Company Secretary and a large number of its shareholders attended the e-AGM through virtual mode. Summing up the bank’s performance during the FY 2019-20, the CMD stated, “Despite the COVID-19 crisis which had far reaching economic and social repercussions, J&K Bank has delivered a strong balance sheet. During the fiscal, the Bank registered an Operating profit of Rs 1525.05 Cr, with an improved NIM of 3.92 per cent. Further, taking cognizance of the continued pressure on asset quality due to impact of COVID-19, the bank enhanced NPA Coverage ratio by more than 14 percentage points from 64.30 pc to 78.59 pc while bringing down the net NPAs considerably from 4.89 pc to 3.48 pc”. Citing increased provisions as reason for hiccups in the Bank’s journey towards glory during the last many quarters, the CMD attributed it to the increase in level of NPAs due to impairments in corporate portfolio outside J&K, primarily contracted under consortium/multiple bank arrangements. “Now that J&K Bank has shifted its focus to retail and agriculture lending across the country and corporate lending has been restricted to top rated corporates, the shift has begun yielding favorable results”, the CMD said. Expounding on the effects of dual challenges faced by the bank since second quarter of the FY 2019-20, Chairman R K Chhibber said, “Shortly after the disturbances during the second quarter of FY 2019-20 derailed the trade activities, the bank had to face an unprecedented disruption in the economic activity, caused globally by the COVID-19, which has led to major changes in operations of trade, commerce and industries without exception.” Earlier, the Company Secretary Mohammad Shafi read out the Auditor’s Report, comments from Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) besides providing background for business items to be transacted at the AGM. Towards the end of meeting, a question-answer session was held, wherein the CMD responded to different queries to the satisfaction of the shareholders. At the end of the meeting, the CMD expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all the e-participants in the AGM for their active participation. Meanwhile, the results of e-voting along with the scrutinizers report shall be available on the website of the bank and communicated to stock exchanges and KFin Technologies within 48 hours of conclusion of AGM.
