DBS India profit rises 360 per cent to Rs 74 cr

DBS India's profits has risen 360 per cent to Rs 74 crore as on March 31, 2007 against Rs 16 crore in the corresponding period last year. The bank's advances increased to Rs 1,229.8 crore from Rs 891.7 crore.

The deposit base has risen to Rs Rs 3,836.2 crore against Rs 1,452.2 crore. Of the deposit base of around Rs 3,800 crore, around Rs 1,200 crore are individual deposits. Its net interest margin stood at around three per cent.

At present, the bank has two branches in Mumbai and Delhi. The bank has put in its applications for branch licences to the Reserve Bank of India. The limited branch network is hampering the bank's transactional banking business.

"We have to do a lot work on branch expansion and also expand the product offerings. Asia is our homeground and we will focusing in these markets. We will look at building REIT and Shipping Investment Trusts. Singapore will become a very big debt and capital market for Indian companies this throws us a lot of opportunity. As of now companies have access to only the institutional investors as time passes we could see Indian companies accessing the retail investor market in Singapore,'' said Pranam Wahi, chief executive officer, DBS India.

"If we have a larger footprint in the country, we would look at retail banking. At present, we are present in the consumer banking space through Cholamandalam DBS Finance. Cholamandalam DBS will have 200 branches by the end of the year," added Wahi.

The bank is bullish on the small and medium enterprises and wealth management business.