BackRBS India pre-tax profit jumps 58% to Rs662 crore in FY14
The bank says it posted a 60% growth in net profit but refused to share the absolute number
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Mumbai: British lender Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS) has posted a 58% jump in pre-tax profit from its India franchise at ₹ 662.11 crore in 2013-14, helped by its wholesale banking business.
The bank—which has 10 retail branches and wealth management business apart from wholesale banking and brokerage units in India—said it posted a 60% growth in net profit, but refused to share the absolute number.
“The wholesale banking business grew the top and bottom lines. This includes risk management, lending/arranging debt and transaction banking," RBS India country executive Brijesh Mehra told PTI.
He said that, in spite, of the fragile domestic as well as global economic environments, the bank was able to perform well and added that RBS is among the top five foreign lenders in all the product categories in India.
Mehra said there was a “substantial" decline in the gross non-performing assets ratio as well but again declined to share the actual numbers. He claimed the net NPA ratio was “close to nil".
It has been a mixed bag for foreign banks on the earnings front in Asia’s third largest economy.
Standard Chartered Plc, the largest and oldest in terms of branches, reportedly saw a hefty 46% dip in pre-tax profit, while HSBC reported a 23% fall in operating profit. But others, such as Citibank and Barclays Plc reported a surge in numbers.
Mehra said RBS, which has reduced its focus on the retail banking, will continue to focus on wholesale banking opportunities and the Indo-British trade in specific. It can be noted that following its failure to sell retail banking, RBS has been winding down its operations in the segment in India for a few years now.
“Our focus will continue to be on wholesale clients and specifically on the British linkage. With the British economy doing well and the domestic economy upbeat, it is a fantastic opportunity," Mehra said.
Even after the Reserve Bank of India’s hard talk on the way forward for foreign lenders with insistence on making them operate as a wholly-owned subsidiaries by offering many benefits, Mehra said RBS is still studying the issue.
“As of now we will continue in the current model with our 10 branches. As and when any regulatory developments take place, we will look at them," he said, adding that “the regulatory environment in India should remain stable".
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