The Hindu Business Line : HSBC India net up 41% on robust growth

“The rise in net profit has been driven by robust growth in all our businesses. In particular, our SME as well as large corporate businesses have begun to deliver,” said Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head, HSBC India.

The bank’s total income rose 50 per cent to Rs 7,096 crore, from Rs 4,720 crore in the year ago period. Total expenditure jumped 52 per cent to Rs 5903 crore, against Rs 3,875 crore. Provisions and contingencies increased to Rs 1,742 crore, from Rs 1,077 crore.

Total assets increased 38 per cent to Rs 75,921 crore from Rs 54,929 crore. Deposits jumped 22 per cent to Rs 42,620 crore and advances rose 29 per cent to Rs 29,944 crore.

Mr Rajat Tandon, Chief Financial Officer, HSBC India, said that wholesale banking and retail banking equally contributed 50 per cent each to the bank’s portfolio.

While the bank sees this 50:50 ratio staying the same, corporate and in particular SME business is expected show strong growth.

The bank’s credit card base grew to 2.7 million during the fiscal, from 2.3 million.

Ms Kidwai said that bank had deliberately slowed down on mortgage loans on account of high real estate prices.

Going forward, the bank’s wealth management business will remain a big thrust for the bank, she said.

The banks net non performing assets stood at 0.58 per cent, slightly higher than the previous year’s 0.43 per cent. The rise was mainly on account of the retail portfolio, Mr Tandon said.

The bank’s capital and reserves increased by Rs 2299 crore to Rs 8,459 crore in the recently concluded fiscal. The HSBC group injected fresh capital of Rs 788 crore to support the growth in the bank’s operations in India during the fiscal.

The capital adequacy ratio as on March 31, 2008 stood at 10.59 per cent as per Basel I norms and 11.46 per cent as per Basel II norms.

Ms Kidwai said that going forward, she did not see any slowdown in merger and acquisition activities since Indian corporates were cash rich and had strong bottomlines. “There are plenty of opportunities right now and companies could close deals at better prices. However, financing right now is not as readily available and is more expensive.”, she said.

HSBC India’s recent acquisition of IL&FS Investsmart will be completed in the next 3-4 months, Ms Kidwai said.

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