Significant growth of peers came through NBFC lending, co-lending and portfolio buyouts, which CUB had resisted in the past, said MD & CEO N. Kamakodi.
| Photo Credit: KSL
City Union Bank Ltd. (CUB) is exploring new opportunities in co-lending space such as housing and vehicle loans not only to be competitive but also to achieve 12-14% growth during FY24.
“We have not gone into the retail lending, services lending or NBFC lending in the past,” said bank MD & CEO N. Kamakodi.
“Now, I think we have to get into those segments and also to take it to the double-digit growth rate for the current year, for which we have started making our initiatives,” he said during analysts call.
While comparing CUB performance with most of its peers, he said that significant growth of the peers came through NBFC lending, co-lending and portfolio buyouts, which the former had resisted in the past.
“The change in the environment is coming to a point that we also need to get into the bandwagon to take things forward,” he said.
Talking on the housing front, he said the bank saw significant number of its existing customers using housing loans from other banks. Hence, the entry into this segment.
On the gold-loan front, the bank has initiated discussion with whom, the main areas of operations are pre-dominantly outside Tamil Nadu, where CUB had strong presence and with few state-based NBFCs for vehicle lending.
Going forward, Mr. Kamakodi said that existing portfolio will constitute 85% of loan book while 15% will come from new lines. In that 15%, about 8-10% will be from co-lending and 5-7% from retail and other areas.
The board had recently formed a sub-committee for smooth succession planning as Mr. Kamakodi’s tenure ends in April 2026. The committee’s task is to find a successor and ensure a smooth transfer of responsibility when the tenure ends.