Dhanalakshmi Bank eyes Rs 5,000cr business

Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited is targetting to achieve an aggregate business of Rs 5,000 crore this fiscal. It is eyeing to garner Rs 3,000 crore by way of deposits and Rs 2,000 crore in advances.

Speaking to the Business Standard, A D Navaneethan, chairman of the bank, said the bank was poised to reach the figure this year.

The aggregate business of the bank, at the end of the second quarter this year, touched Rs 4,209 crore. This included Rs 2,433 crore in deposits and Rs 1,776 crores in total advances, Navaneethan said.

During the fiscal 2006, the bank generated business worth Rs 4,300 crores, of which deposits alone accounted for Rs 2,533 crores. The net worth of the bank currently stands at Rs 160 crore, and it is looking at both organic as well as inorganic ways of growth to reach the Rs 300-crore figure before 2007-08, as stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India and the Union finance ministry.

The bank has already done 44 per cent of its total business in the priority sector, as against the benchmark of 40 per cent stipulated by the RBI.

The Thrissur-headquartered bank has its presence in eight states with 178 branches. In Kerala, the bank manages 129 branches. The bank plans to open 32 new branches and expand its presence to Orissa, and is awaiting the clearence from RBI for these projects.

The bank gives due importance to microcredit segment. Till September 2006, more than Rs 60 crore has been absorbed in the bank's microfinancing programmes like Kudumbasree in Kerala and women self-help groups in Tamil Nadu, he said.

"It is profitable for banks to look at smaller clients, especially when big corporates are accessing their capital requirements via non-banking sources," Navaneethan said.

The net NPA of the bank, as of September 30, 2006, stood at 2.3 percent, which the bank plans to bring down to less than two per cent by the end of March, next year.

The bank also garnered an income of Rs 4 crore out of selling insurance policies of Metlife with which the bank has a tie-up. The bank expects the insurance commission from Metlife to double during the current fiscal.

The bank has a customer base close to 10 lakh. It plans to open more branches in Chennai and expects to open 12 new branches in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

It is also planning to set up 25 more ATM counters before the end of this financial year.