LVB targets 30 p.c. growth in business

By Our Staff Reporter

DINDIGUL, AUG. 27. Lakshmi Vilas Bank has targeted a 30 per cent growth in business to reach Rs. 5,000 crores in March 2002. The business per employee has touched to Rs. 2 crores, said Mr. A. Krishnamurthy, Chief General Manager, at a press conference here recently. The bank has tied up with CGU Life, a U.K. based insurance company, to market the latter's life insurance products possibly in November. LVB will act as agents of CGU. A high level steering committee, project committee and implementation committee have been constituted in this connection, he said.

The bank has been taking measures to reduce its net NPA to 5 per cent from 6.3 per cent and gross NPA to 7 per cent from 9 per cent. The NPA in March 2001 stood at Rs. 138 crores. The total business has crossed Rs. 3,000 crores as on March 2001 with significant credit deposit ratio of 66 per cent. It has recorded an operating profit of Rs. 60.07 crores and net profit of Rs. 26.74 crores. The cost of deposit has also declined to 8.88 per cent from 9.25 per cent. The interest spread, as per average working funds, was 2.75 per cent.

The bank planned to release Tier-II bonds worth Rs. 20 crores soon as the cash adequacy ratio has touched 10.21 per cent which was higher than the RBI norm of 9 per cent, according to Mr. A. Krishnamurthy.

The bank would be providing value added services such as ATMs and corporate terminals after full automation. It has proposed to open eight branches - two each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, three in Tamil Nadu and one in Pondicherry - before March 2002.

The bank will also be moving from credit rating system to credit risk assessment system, in grading borrowers. Of the 152 branches, 48 branches have been fully automated and the remaining would be automated before March 2002. In the second phase, the bank would go in for networking to provide better services to its customers.

The Dindigul branch has achieved Rs. 100 crore deposits and the business transaction through exports and imports has touched Rs. 200 crores. The bank would not insist on collateral security for education loan for professional courses up to Rs. 4 lakhs.

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Section  : Business
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