Lakshmi Vilas Bank is aiming a 30-35 per cent growth in this financial year. The bank is targeting 30 per cent growth in retail fixed deposits, 30 per cent growth in advances (loans) and 40 per cent growth in Casa deposits (current account to savings account).

“We are looking at steady growth in the retail lending space. We will tap secured lending like mortgage aggressively. But we are not looking at entering unsecured lending category such as credit cards or personal loans as of now,” said PR Somasundaram, who recently took over as MD and CEO of Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

Somasundaram is looking at an image makeover to change the brand perception of the bank from a south Indian bank to an national one. The bank will open 43 new branches this year, out of which 21 will be opened in north India, while the rest will come up in southern states. The bank has already received RBI approval for the new branches.

The bank is also looking at launching a housing finance company, a subsidiary of the bank, to focus on the under-penetrated home loan market and is waiting for RBI’s approval for the same. At present, the bank’s home loan portfolio is Rs 200 crore. The new housing finance firm will begin operations with an initial capital of Rs 70 crore.

The bank will raise capital by December. “We have ta­ken shareholders’ approval for 40 per cent dilution, that is about Rs 39 crore of equivalent face value of new issue. We are examining all options and are also taking steps to enhance capital,” Somasundaram said. The bank will look at options of distributing insurance products through tie-ups with insurers.

Total income for the first quarter ended June grew at 16.80 per cent to Rs 274.99 crore from Rs 235.44 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Total interest income grew from Rs 209.73 crore (June 2009) to Rs 248.07 crore in the first quarter of this financial year, posting a growth of 18.28 per cent.

The Casa balance has grown remarkably by 42.60 per cent from Rs 1,202 crore in the June quarter of 2009 to Rs 1,714 crore in Q1 this year. Deposit levels rose from Rs 8,011 crore (in June ’09) to Rs 8,956 crore while the credit portfolio expanded from Rs 5,546 crore (in June ’09) to Rs 6,413 crore