Private sector lender IndusInd Bank is embarking on a slew of initiatives to boost its earnings. The bank will soon launch a credit card, and is targeting a turnover of around Rs 500 crore from the new business in the first year.
Speaking on the sidelines of the annual results announcement for 2009-10, Paul Abraham, chief operating officer, said: ?So far, our retail lending has been entirely secured. We want to move towards unsecured lending. A credit card will complete the suite of products. We expect the credit card business to pick up in the next three years and will target around Rs 500-crore business in the first year.? Abraham said the bank is in talks with a couple of vendors for the back-end solution. IndusInd is also planning to set up an online portal that would facilitate transactions between companies and their dealers. IIT-Madras will provide technology for the portal. ?From a manufacturer to a dealer, everyone across the chain can avail themselves of credit under one umbrella. The objective is to disburse credit faster and, thereby, help us grow the loan book,? Ramesh Ganesan, EVP head ? transaction banking, IndusInd Bank, told FE.
Meanwhile, the bank has posted a net profit of Rs 97.96 crore in three months to March 2010, a 94% jump year-on-year. Total income stood at Rs 852.57 crore, a growth of 9%.
For the 12-month period ended March 2010, the lender reported a net profit of Rs 350.31 crore, an increase of 136%. Total income for the year 2009-10 was Rs 3,260.47 crore, a rise of 18%.
The bank?s core-fee income rose by 47% to Rs 112.21 crore in the last quarter of 2009-10.
According to Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank, the bank should be able to report a credit growth of around 25% in 2010-2011.