MUMBAI: Funding is the biggest risk to the HDFC Bank and HDFC merger, Sashidhar Jagdishan, the private lender’s MD, said on Friday. HDFC Bank has been on an overdrive to accrue deposits to provide cover for the liabilities arising out of the merger that now includes the finances of the erstwhile mortgage lender.
Jagdishan, who was addressing shareholders at the lender’s 29th annual general meeting, also said that net interest margins for the bank will drop September quarter onwards, once the merger impact plays out.
“We believe we have a wonderful chance in terms of executing this (merger), it’s not going to be easy,” said Jagdishan, who now heads one of the world’s top ten lenders by market value. “As you know, the risks of the merger is the funding part of it. And we believe that this is a challenge that the entire bank, the leadership team of HDFC Bank and all the levels below are very excited about…There is no reason we will not be able to surmount the challenges.”
HDFC Bank has set itself a target to mobilise Rs 4 lakh crore of deposits to help expand loans at 18%. Jagdishan also added that margins of the bank will see a downward trend in the future.
“The bank has demonstrated that it can do business in a rangebound manner. We operate within a range of 4% to 4.4% over multiple business and interest rate cycles,” said Jagdishan. “But with the merger and because the home loan is now going to be a significant part of the total advances book and it carries a lesser spread. The NIMs will drop, I think in Q2, which will be declared sometime in the later part of October. It will be visible as to where the impact of NIM will be.”
On shareholder’s remarks on the non-inclusion of Deepak Parekh in the HDFC Bank board, bank’s chairman Atanu Chakraborty said, “Mr Parekh is not in the board of the bank, on account of the fact that there is an RBI guideline that precludes anybody above 75 years to be on board of a bank,” he said. “So, we really miss his expertise, knowledge and sagacity on the board of the bank. He has been in a sense the person who guided the institution, he created the entire financial conglomerate along with his esteemed colleagues of whom Keki Mistry and Renu Karnad have joined the board.”
The chairman also said that HDFC Bank is set to benefit after the addition of home loans to their product suite.
“As a consequence of the merger, the bank is poised to benefit from the addition of a market leading home loan product, which can now be directly offered through the bank’s large network of branches, helping a greater number of people fulfil their aspirations to be home owners,” he said. “The home loan business will also benefit from the low cost of funds that a bank traditionally enjoys.”
