Kolkata: Joining Indian banking league with 501 branches, Bandhan Bank Ltd said it had posted a net profit of Rs.275.24 crore, or Rs.3.40 per share, till 31 March, in the little over six months since it started functioning as a bank.
The former microfinance lender, which launched itself as a bank on 23 August, has till now clocked revenue of Rs.1,731 crore, it said in a regulatory filing.
Earlier in the day, its managing director and chief executive officer Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said at a media interaction that the bank had added around 700,000 new customers since last August and that it currently has around Rs.13,000 crore in public deposits.
The loan book size is Rs.15,200 crore, he added, while refusing to discuss financial performance.
State-wise, Bandhan’s West Bengal unit has the maximum number of branches 220, followed by Bihar 67, Assam 60, Maharashtra 21, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura 20 each, and Jharkhand 15.
Bandhan Bank is the first instance in India of a microfinance entity transforming into a universal bank. It received an in-principle approval from the RBI in April 2014 and the banking regulator’s final nod on June 17, 2015. Its investors include IFC, SIDBI and Caladium Investment Pte.Ltd, a company managed by GIC Special Investments Pvt Ltd.
Bandhan began as a not-for-profit microfinance enterprise in 2001 with the idea of making a significant contribution towards alleviation of poverty by empowering women. It transformed itself into a non-banking finance company in 2006.