Aimed at women empowerment, Axis Bank, the country’s third-largest private sector bank, has opened an “all-women branch” in Kolkata, a first of its kind branch of the bank in the metropolis.
Inaugurated recently, the branch has been set up in a posh South Kolkata locality – Lake Gardens. The branch will offer regular banking and financial transaction services.
With the opening of this branch, Axis Bank now has 118 branches in Kolkata, also known as the City of Joy, and 219 in the state.
In a statement, Axis Bank Executive Director Rajiv Anand said the women play an important role in managing household savings. “We believe that this ‘All Women Branch’ will help increase the participation of this segment in the banking industry.”
Meanwhile, elevated stress level in the loan book has affected Axis Bank’s bottom line in the first quarter ended June 30. The bank reported a 21 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit at Rs.1,556 crore for the first quarter of FY17 as against Rs.1,978 crore in the year-ago period.
In a conference call on Friday, two of the bank’s top executives — V Srinivasan, Deputy MD, and Jairam Sridharan, CFO — observed that stress levels in their wholesale loan book remains elevated.
Net interest income (NII) grew 11 per cent year-on-year to Rs.4,517 crore in (Rs.4,056 crore in Q1 FY16), while net interest margin stood at 3.79 per cent (3.81 per cent).
The net interest margin (NIM) in FY17 is likely to remain above 3.6 per cent levels, according to the bank’s senior management.
“While the asset quality seems to have deteriorated, the management has reiterated its stand that the maximum credit cost for FY17 would be 150 basis points and this comes as a mild relief,” said Siddharth Purohit, Senior Equity Research Analyst – Banking, Angel Broking.
