Lakshmi Vilas Bank aims 20% growth in 2014-15: MD

Private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank aims to double its profits during the current financial year even as it has set a target of growing at 20 per cent year-on-year, according to a top official.
"We are hoping to register profits of about Rs 140 crore in the current (financial) year. Last year we made some provisioning. Our profits for last year was around Rs 60 crore," Lakshmi Vilas Bank Managing Director and CEO Rakesh Sharma told reporters here.
Elaborating he said, "our first quarter profits (of current financial year) was about Rs 28 crore. In the remaining three quarters we expect about Rs 35-Rs 40 crore (in each quarters). We expect our profits to be Rs 140 crore".

Lakshmi Vilas Bank Chief Financial Officer Palaniappan said the bank made an one-time provisioning of Rs 40 crore during the last financial year and during the current financial year, "such requirement was not required" which would lead to increase in profits.
On the growth plans, Sharma said, a 20 per cent growth on deposits and advances was planned in the current fiscal.
Noting that the bank was focusing on improving its exposure in the retail and Micro, small and medium enterprise portfolio, from the present 72 per cent to 80 per cent, he said, "the bank would shortly introduce a co-branded visa credit card".

"We are already in advance stage of discussion with another credit card company. We will launch a co-branded credit card shortly", he said, declining to elaborate further.
The bank has undertaken a "rebranding exercise" aimed at making it more "customer friendly" and initially 30 branches of the bank would be covered on pilot basis, he said.
"We have appointed Ernst and Young as the consultant", he said.