Business Today

ON A FAST TRACK

Dhanlaxmi Bank Fastest-Growing Small Bank

- G. Sreeram MD & CEO, Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd

One of India’ oldest private banks, Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank, faced legacy issues, management change and modernisat­ion pangs in the last decade. It pressed through changes after outsider CEO Amitabh Chaturvedi and a new board took charge. When the economy went into a downturn in 2012, it halted branch expansion, hurting the loan book. Chaturvedi left around the same time. The bank was in losses from 2011/12 till 2015/16, barring a small profit in

2012/13.

Its fortune eroded in the south after the name change from Dhanalaksh­mi Bank to Dhanlaxmi Bank – an attempt to become acceptable to customers in North India.

The bank showed signs of recovery in 2016/17, with net profit of ` 12.38 crore against net loss of

` 209.45 crore in

2015/16. Gross nonperform­ing assets (NPAs) stood at 4.78 per cent of gross advances as on March

31, 2017, compared to

6.36 per cent a year back. Net NPAs went slightly down to

2.58 per cent.

In the first half of this fiscal, it recorded a net profit of ` 14.03 crore, up 19.4 per cent, thanks to reduced expenditur­e and rise in net interest margin. Operating profit improved 26.93 per cent. The bank detailed earlier that its thrust areas will be retail loans, NPA recovery, low-cost deposits and other income in this financial year.

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