Equitas' Q1 net rises 64% to Rs 61 cr

Revenue up 46% at Rs 348 cr

Equitas Holdings first quarter ended June 30, 2016 profit stood at Rs 61.17 crore as compared to Rs. 37.38 crore, an increase of around 64 per cent.

Company's revenue was at Rs 348 crore as compared to Rs 239 crore, up by 46 per cent.

Standalone profit stood at Rs 28.02 lakh as compared to Rs 82.08 lakh, a year ago. Revenue stood at Rs 2.23 crore as compared to Rs 2.40 crore, a year ago.

Chennai-based Equitas Holdings has received the banking regulator's final approval to launch a Small Finance Bank (SFB). The new SFB is expectes to start operations by September or October.

The final licence was given to the company by RBI on Thursday late evening, said Equitas.

Equitas will be the first bank after indepedence from the state and first private bank from Chennai.

P N Vasudevan, managing director, Equitas Holdings Ltd said, "We are planning to launch the Bank by September or October, this year."

He said, the SFB will be profitable from the first year onwards despite it will incur around Rs 100 crore additionally every year.

"Our major strength would be our ability to service the informal economy through our process and system," he says.