Srinagar, Aug 27: J&K Bank on Tuesday held its 87th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders at SKICC. On the occasion, the Bank announced a 215% dividend for FY 2024-25, marking the third consecutive year of rewarding shareholders in line with its strong and consistent performance.
According to a statement issued here, MD & CEO Amitava Chatterjee chaired the AGM – themed ‘Driving Growth & Delivering Excellence’ – in presence of Bank’s Directors-on-Board including Principal Secretary to Government (Finance Department) Santosh D Vaidya (IAS) – representing majority shareholder and promoter i.e. J&K Government. Two directors joined the AGM virtually.
Amid a large number of valuable shareholders, the meeting was attended by the Bank’s Executive Director Sudhir Gupta, Chief General Managers Sunit Kumar and Imtiyaz Ahmad, General Managers, Deputy General Managers, Company Secretary, Chief Financial Officer, Scrutinizer, auditors, other senior officers besides members from the media fraternity.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary (Finance Department) Santosh D Vaidya (IAS) congratulated the staff for their commitment and contribution while describing the Bank’s AGM as an occasion to not only celebrate its successes but also reflect upon the challenges ahead. He said, “The trust of shareholders and customers is the Bank’s core strength. The institution must continue to bolster that trust year after year.” He also highlighted the geopolitical challenges impacting local economic activities but expressed confidence in the Bank’s resilience and growth potential.
Enumerating the Government’s expectations as the major shareholder, he emphasised the need to strengthen the five key pillars of growth – customer focus, regulatory compliance, capital adequacy, technological upgradation and business expansion. “The management need to ensure that customers feel welcomed across touch points of the Bank while upgrading all the IT platforms to match global standards”, he said.
Highlighting the importance of resilience in the face of challenges, he pointed out that the recent Pahalgam attack has cast a shadow on almost every aspect of local economy, thereby creating additional challenges for the Bank which must be faced resolutely to emerge stronger.
He also impressed upon the Bank to expand business both within and outside J&K, make productive use of deposits, and leverage initiatives like Mission YUVA and HADP to create sustainable growth opportunities. Underscoring efficiency, he called for further improvement in cost-to-income ratio, staff capacity building, and heavy investment in technology to enhance convenience while safeguarding public money from cyber risks.
While concluding his remarks, the Principal Secretary reiterated that the Bank must aspire to play a lead role in raising per capita income in J&K by scaling up operations and diversifying its business base.
Earlier, in his address at the AGM, MD & CEO Amitava Chatterjee said, “FY 2024-25 has been a landmark year for the Bank, as we have achieved record profits, a double-digit growth in both deposits and advances and continuing improvement in asset quality, capital adequacy and cost to income ratio, all of which are a reflection of our strong fundamentals and enhanced operational efficiency.”
Reflecting on the Bank’s digital transformation, he stated, “Our digital transformation journey has been pivotal with digital transactions accounting for 92.46% of our total transactions in FY 2024-25. We have enhanced our mobile and internet banking platforms besides rolling out end-to-end digital loan journeys for our retail loan customers with centralized credit processing and have also revamped our website to enhance customer experience. Continuing with this transformation, we have recently inaugurated Centralized Processing Centres for corporate loans and have digitalized the processing of corporate loans as well to improve underwriting standards, reduce turnaround time and enhance service delivery.”
Emphasizing the Bank’s social responsibility, he said, “During the financial year, we had a financial outlay of around Rs 31 Cr in CSR, which was spent in various impactful CSR initiatives across diverse sectors such as healthcare, education, environmental sustainability and skill development – reflecting our continued commitment to inclusive and sustainable growth.”
Laying out the roadmap for the next five years, the MD & CEO expressed, “Looking ahead to the future, we aim to cross Rs 5 Lakh Cr business and reach Rs 5000 Cr annual net profit by FY 2030. And to achieve these goals, our focus will remain on quality business growth, digital excellence, promoting financial inclusion, developing future-ready human capital and enhancing customer service.”
