Kerala-based South Indian Bank (SIB) has targeted a total business mix of Rs 36,000-crore by end fiscal and would focus more on building up its low cost deposit-base in FY10, a top official said.
"We expect to take our total business above Rs 36,000-crore by the end of FY10. The bank is cautious to maintain the quality of its book while growing the balance sheet size," South Indian Bank's Managing Director & CEO, V A Joesph told PTI here.
The bank has brought down the proprotion of its expensive bulk deposits to 6.52 per cent during FY09, which is expected to decline further in the current fiscal, Joseph said.
"The idea is to grow our current and savings account deposit-base by mobilising more savings," Joseph said.
With a view to mobilise more deposits, SIB has begun a project in Kerala to make ATM cards available for school students.
"So far, the bank has issued 1.25 lakh ATM cards among students. The response has been very good for this experiment with a lot of students depositing small amounts in their savings bank accounts," Joseph said.
Presently, SIB has a deposit-base of Rs 18,000-crore while its total advance portfolio is around Rs 12,000-crore. Out of the total advance portfolio, 55 per cent is retail deposits.
CASA currently contributes 24.5 per cent of the total deposits of SIB and the bank has targeted to take the figure to 27 per cent by end-fiscal, Joseph said.
The lender has managed to contain its bad loans under comfortable levels. Gross and net NPAs of the bank currently stands at 2.1 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
During FY 09, SIB restructured two per cent of its accounts that amounted to Rs 240-crore.
The bank has 532 branches and 280 ATMs at present, which is likely to go upto 575 and 325 respectively by the end of this fiscal, Joesph said.
The bank would hire 500 professionals this year, which will take its total employee strength to 5,000, Joesph said.
