Abhyudaya Co-op. Bank Ltd conducted its 61st Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 26, 2024, at the Bank’s Auditorium in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Shareholders attended the AGM held in its Diamond Jubilee year in large numbers to express their continued support, the sense of belonging to the Bank and the trust in it.
The meeting was chaired by Satya Prakash Pathak, the Administrator of the Bank. He was accomp.ed on the dais by the RBI appointed Advisors namely Venkatesh Hegde, Suhas Gokhale and Devendra Kumar. The other persons on the dais were Premnath Salian, the CEO & Barun Raj Upadhyay, the CGM together with senior executives of the Bank.
Address by the Administrator:
At the outset, Satya Prakash Pathak thanked to the shareholders for their unwavering trust and support during the Bank’s transition period. He explained that the RBI superseded the Bank’s board on 24th November 2023 due to material concerns emanating from the poor governance standards. After supersession, the Administrator and his committee of advisors have steadied the ship by taking sound & firm Risk mitigation measures. This resulted in improved performance and the Bank has demonstrated positive results at the end of the year under report within the short available period of four months.
The various concerns expressed by the shareholders as regards the accumulated loss, non-payment of dividend, and other issues were answered. It was clarified that the net loss in the year under report and the accumulated loss carried forward were in fact a result of the provisions which should have been made, but not made, during the previous year. This resulted in showing the loss in FY 2023-24 at Rs. 224.15 crore which is still at a reduced level compared to the previous financial year by Rs. 12.25 crore.
He requested the shareholders to appreciate that, in spite of such provisions for the past year, the operating profit in FY 2023-24 worked out to Rs. 39.84 crore as against Rs. 13.98 crore in the FY 2022-23. This became possible due to reduction in cost to income ratio from 96.20% as on 31.03.2023 to 89.19% as on 31.03.2024. Towards these concerted efforts were made at all the levels.
The Net Loss reported at Rs. 224.15 crore would have been at a still lower level of Rs. 9.72 Crore if the said previous year’s provisions had not been made.
Similarly, the Net Loss now carried forward at Rs. 177.93 crore would have appeared as Net Profit carried forward at Rs. 36.51 crore had such adjustments not been made.
Regarding non-payment of dividend, it was clarified that this was not a position unique for the year under report. In fact, the Bank has not been paying dividend for the last ten years with the only exception of the FY 2018-19. The Administrator’s committee assured the members that it is committed to bringing about sustainable growth and ensuring profitable operations. The committee expressed the confidence that with the improvement in Compliance Culture and Governance standards, they anticipate registration of distributable profits in future to recommend payment of dividend.
Agenda Items and Resolutions:
All the agenda items were thoroughly discussed and resolutions in respect of them were passed with the approval of the shareholders, incorporating their minor suggestions. The Administrator assured all the stakeholders that the Bank would consider their inputs for improving the revival strategy.
