Mangaluru : Corporation Bank on Wednesday announced that it had, in 2015-16, posted losses for the first time since its inception in 1906. However, the bank’s CEO exuded confidence of bouncing back this fiscal by recovering the non-performing assets (NPA), which have touched the 9.98-per cent mark (Rs. 14,544 crore gross).

Announcing the performance highlights of the bank for the fourth quarter and the fiscal as a whole, the bank’s managing director and CEO, Jai Kumar Garg, said the performance was in line with the banking industry last year. The slowdown in infrastructure, power, steel and textile sectors affected repayment of advances, thus forcing the bank to make sufficient provision for NPAs, he said.

The bank has reported a net loss of Rs. 506 crore for 2015-16, as against the net profit of Rs. 584 crore the previous fiscal. The net loss for Q4 stood at Rs. 55 crore, as against the net profit of Rs. 45 crore during the same period the previous financial year, Mr. Garg said.

In all, the bank did business of Rs. 3,45,493 crore during 2015-16, as against Rs. 3,44,412 crore the previous fiscal, registering a growth of 0.31 per cent during which period the deposits too rose 2.92 per cent (from Rs. 1,99,346 crore to Rs. 2,05,171 crore). However, there was a decline of 3.27 per cent in net advances, from Rs. 1,45,066 crore to Rs. 1,40,322 crore.

Mr. Garg said the bank is targeting a growth of 12-15 per cent, both in advances and deposits, in 2016-17. Another 100 branches and as many ATMs too would be added to the existing network, he said.

He added that around 100 of the existing ATMs would be converted into e-lobbies with self-service kiosks, taking the total number of e-lobbies to 250.