HDFC Bank plans to open 500 new branches this fiscal

Private lender HDFC Bank plans to open about 500 new branches this financial year as part of its steps to expand footprint.

The bank has been expanding branch network consistently and this year the bank intends to open about 500 branches, sources said.

About 60% of new branches would be coming up in semi-urban and rural areas and the remaining in urban areas, sources said.

Last fiscal, the bank opened 506 branches leading the tally to 4,520 at the end of March 2016. Of 506 branches, 256 branches were opened in semi-urban and rural areas.

The country's second largest private sector lender also plans to raise Rs 50,000 crore through bonds over one year to fund business growth.

For the fourth quarter, HDFC Bank reported a 20.2% jump in net profit at Rs 3,374.2 crore, helped by a healthy rise in core net interest income (NII).

The bank, which registered around 30% profit growth for over a decade till 2013-14, posted a 20.4% growth in post-tax profit at Rs 12,296.2 crore for the fiscal.

For January-March, NII rose 24% to Rs 7,453.3 crore, while the non-interest income was up 11.8 % to Rs 2,865.9 crore.

On the asset quality front, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) were flat at 0.94% of gross advances.

Net non-performing assets were at 0.3 % of net advances as on March 31, 2016. Total restructured loans were at 0.1 % of gross advances at the end of 2016-17.

Provisions and contingencies for the quarter ended March were Rs 662.5 crore as against Rs 576.7 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last year.