Syndicate Bank to step up retail play

Syndicate Bank is targeting a 25% overall growth this fiscal even as it sees stress on net interest margins (NIM).

“The government is expecting higher economic growth rate in the current year. Going by these projections, we believe that 25% growth in our business is possible. However, it all depends on how the economy and the industry play out when it comes to large corporate advances,” M Anjaneya Prasad, executive director said.

The bank’s NIM, which dropped dropped 24 basis points to 3.19%  for the last fiscal, is likely to dip further to about 3% this fiscal.

The bank is focusing on expanding the housing loans portfolio as a part of its shift in focus to retail followed by the gold loan portfolio, which grew about 76% last fiscal.