Kolkata, July 30 - State-run UCO Bank may cut its prime lending rate (PLR) by 50 basis points each in the next two quarters, a top official said here Thursday.

'During the next two quarters, we would be shedding most of our high cost deposits which would bring down our fund costs and so we might bring down our lending rates also,' chairman and managing director of the bank S.K. Goel told reporters.

UCO's current PLR is 12.25 percent.

He expects the net interest margin (NIM) of the bank to go up to 2.15 percent by the end of the current financial year due to expected fall in fund costs.

During April-June, UCO's NIM dropped to 1.74 percent from 2.12 percent year ago.

The bank's net profit has gone up 36 percent to Rs.178.85 crore for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs.133.44 crore for the first quarter of the previous year.

'The growth in profit was due to significant growth in treasury profits to Rs.85 crore in the quarter from Rs.30.5 crore a year ago and a 55 percent growth in our fee-based income at Rs.252 crore,' Goel said.