Dhanalakshmi Bank eyes big MF stake

Private sector lender Dhanalakshmi Bank plans to buy about 70 per cent stake in a mutual fund, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaturvedi said on Thursday.

Private sector lender Dhanalakshmi Bank plans to buy about 70 per cent stake in a mutual fund, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaturvedi said on Thursday.

HT Image

“We have applied to the RBI for approval. We are waiting for it,” he said.

He did not give details of the name and size of the asset manager.

The bank is looking at 30-40 per cent loan growth in the current financial year by lending to low-risk large corporates, he said, adding the current loan book is Rs 50 billion.

“As a policy, we have lent to large corporates to avert delinquency. We have avoided lending to SMEs (small and medium enterprises) because they are risk-prone,” he said.

The bank currently has a net interest margin of 2.6 per cent and hopes to maintain NPAs (net non-performing assets) at 0.8 per cent, he added.

At 3:20p.m., Dhanalakshmi Bank shares were trading at Rs 129.35, down 0.6 per cent in a Mumbai market that was up 1.46 per cent.