MUMBAI: Notwithstanding the subdued corporate credit growth, HDFC Bank on Tuesday said it was confident of growing its wholesale and corporate loan book in the coming quarters.
The country’s second largest private lender’s wholesale book stood at Rs 2.63 lakh crore in FY17, translating to 47 per cent of its total loan book.
The remaining comprises of retail loans.
Within wholesale banking, emerging corporate book (SMEs) accounts for nearly 25 per cent with a book size of nearly Rs 70,000 crore. “It’s a challenging environment, but we have grown our assets.and the secret to our success is prudence,” said Kaizad Bharucha, Executive Director, HDFC Bank.
Speaking to media here on Tuesday, Bharucha said the bank exercised caution while lending to infrastructure sector during the boom period. Like other lenders, HDFC Bank too moved NCLT in certain accounts that turned bad.
On private capex, Bharucha said it was yet to ‘really kick-in’ in the manner one would have liked it to. “Has it moved? Yes, when you compare it to last couple of years, but the pace of it could be better,” he said.
Meanwhile, HDFC Bank emerged as the top leader in the large corporate banking, mid-market and cash management businesses as per a study undertaken by Greenwich Associates, a provider of market intelligence and advisory services.