Yes Bank eyes 35 per cent CAGR

Kolkata: Private sector Yes Bank is eyeing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35 per cent till 2015, a top official of the bank said.

“In the first six years of the bank, we have clocked a CAGR of 74 per cent. But now we have moderated it to 35 per cent (till 2015)", Managing Director and CEO of Yes Bank Rana Kapoor said.

With a present branch network of 255 across 170 locations in the country, Kapoor said that the target by 2015 would be 750 branches.

The balance sheet size of the bank stood at Rs 59,000 crore as of March 2011, he said adding the bank intended to raise it to Rs 1,50,000 crore by 2015.

Asked whether the bank would look for acquisitions to grow the balance sheet size, Kapoor forecast the bank to grow initially at 35 per cent CAGR.

Kapoor said the bank's balance sheet and profit and loss account are expected to be growing in tandem. The bank today opened its third branch in the city and adjoining Howrah.

The bank would shortly open branches in Nagaland and Manipur.

It has also applied to the RBI for opening a branch in Dubai International Financial Centre and a representative office in Abu Dhabi.

Kapoor said the bank had identified education, healthcare, hospitality and urban real estate as the potential sectors for lending.

He said that in education infrastructure, the bank would like to increase its exposure upto Rs 5000 crore amounting to five per cent of the total portfolio.

Kapoor said that the bank would also aggressively cater to the micro-finance institutions (MFIs).

“We want our exposure to MFIs to grow”, Kapoor told reporters here.

From the present level of Rs 290 crore, the exposure to this sector would increase to Rs 1500 crore, he said. About West Bengal, Kapoor said the bank's plan was to make the state its hub for the north-eastern region. The bank plans to ramp the number of branches in West Bengal to 30 by 2015.

Source: Financial Express