South Indian Bank shortlists candidates for MD post
The Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) is constituted by South Indian Bank The search for the new Managing Director and CEO has received many applications and has evaluated and selected some candidates, said Chairman Salim Gangadharan.
The search committee evaluates the applications and has had a few rounds of interactions with the shortlisted candidates. Once completed, the bank will then proceed to the second stage of communication with the regulator in accordance with the requirement to obtain regulatory approval four months in advance, it said on its fourth-quarter earnings call.
Current managing director and CEO Murali Ramakrishnan, whose term ends in September, said the search committee has partnered with agency Hunt Partner and is collectively screening and processing candidates and applications.
Fourth-quarter earnings up 23%
The private sector lender recorded a net profit of Rs 334 crore for the fourth quarter, up 23 per cent year on year and much higher than the Rs 103 crore in the previous quarter. For FY23, the profit after tax was Rs. 775 crore, which is the bank’s highest ever profit.
Ramakrishnan said profitability was driven by strong National Insurance and other income growth, excellent recoveries and lower slippages which led to lower provision requirements.
Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter increased by 35 per cent YoY and 4 per cent QoQ at Rs.857 crore. NIM’s net interest margin was 3.7 percent for the third quarter. The bank aims to maintain these margins, Ramakrishnan said, pegging NIM for FY24 at 3.0-3.5 per cent.
Also read: Ujjivan SFB’s Q4 PAT more than doubled on strong NII founder growth, recovery
Advances from the bank increased by 17 per cent year-on-year to Rs. 41,568 crore as of March 31, led by a growth of 39 per cent in corporate loans, 116 per cent in personal loans and 28 per cent in gold loans. The bank has seen strong growth across sectors except for the housing sector where there has been some degree of slowdown, Ramakrishnan said, adding that the bank will look to grow its housing book in FY24 as part of the focus on the retail and SME sectors.
He added that on the corporate level as well, the bank is witnessing demand from good quality companies for working capital and other facilities.
He said that while the tightening in deposit build-ups is expected to continue, the bank has again started accepting wholesale deposits because rates are now similar to retail ones. The bank’s retail deposits grew by 5 percent year-on-year and current and savings account deposits by 2 percent.
The subdued growth in liabilities is a deliberate strategy to balance liquidity and NIFs, as profitability is equally important, Ramakrishnan said, adding that despite this, the bank cannot continue to offer “fairly low rates” for long, hence It has begun to increase rates in part of the deposit. The credit deposit (credit deposit) ratio for FY24 is expected to remain at around 73-77 percent.