Dhanlaxmi Bank aims at Rs 23k cr biz by March

Thrissur-headquartered Dhanlaxmi Bank has set a business target of Rs 23,000 crore for March 2011, to be based on deposits reaching Rs 13,000 crore and advances Rs 10,000 crore. The current business of the bank is Rs 16,500 crore with a deposit component of Rs 9,850 crore.

The bank’s CEO and managing director Amitabh Chaturvedi said it planned to scale up its national presence by opening 125 new branches across the country taking the total number to 400 by 2011-12 and to 1,000 over the next five years.

It opened 66 branches in 2009-10 and upgraded 26 extension counters to full-fledged branches in the current financial year.

 

Chaturvedi added that in the next financial year, the bank would recruit 2,000 employees, taking the total strength to 5,000.

The private sector lender earned a net profit of Rs 7.65 crore in the first half of the current year and the net (non-performing assets) NPA ratio dropped to 0.71 per cent.

Clarifying on the employee stock option (ESOP) issue, he said the bank had alloted four million shares, or six per cent of its capital base, to the employees in two categories. As per the scheme of allotment, old employees of the bank would get 1.1 million shares and 45 new employees on the top brass would get 2.9 million shares.

The ESOP scheme has a lock-in period of three years. He denied allegations that the bank would be merged or taken over by leading business groups.

“The bank has a robust growth target of Rs 1 lakh crore business within the next five years. All the allegations are baseless and are made by vested interests,” he said.