HDFC Bank is looking to hire 2,500 people in the next six months across India to double its rural cover

• Shares of HDFC Bank, gained close to 2% on Monday’s trade to ₹1,625 apiece on rural banking expansion plans.
• As part of the plan, the lender also plans to hire 2,500 people over the next six months.
• The bank’s management, in its July earnings call, had also indicated that the lender is looking at “solid growth” in the ongoing financial year.

Shares of private sector lender, HDFC Bank, gained close to 2% on Monday’s trade to ₹1,625 apiece as its management looked to double the bank’s rural reach to over two lakh villages over the next two years.

"India's rural and semi-urban markets are under-served in credit extension. They present sustainable long-term growth opportunities for the Indian banking system,” said Rahul Shukla, group head – commercial and rural banking at HDFC Bank in a press statement on Sunday.

The statement was issued by the bank on the same day when Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman prodded banks to expand their rural presence at an Indian Banks' Association event. "Even today many panchayats don't have a bank branch. I am not saying that you need to have a physical presence everywhere, digitisation has saved a lot of costs without compromising the service banks provide," she said on Sunday.

As part of the plan, the lender also plans to hire 2,500 people over the next six months. The move, it said, will help the lender to expand its reach to one-third of rural India, while extending its leadership in lending to micro, small and medium enterprises. Currently, HDFC Bank offers its products and services to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in over 550 districts.

As of June 30, the bank had close to half of its 5,653 branches in semi-urban and rural India, along with 15,912 banking correspondents. Of its total retail advances worth ₹5.23 lakh crore, Kisan Gold card formed close to 9% at ₹46,868 crore. The bank’s commercial and rural banking loan book, as of June 30, rose 25% year-on-year to ₹3.86 lakh crore.

HDFC Bank: Rural Banking Portfolio On A Steady Rise
Source: Public disclosures

The rise in HDFC Bank stock prices in today’s trade, said Siji Philip, senior research analyst at Axis Securities, is a function of its management’s positive commentary on future growth, as well as its announcement to expand rural banking in the country.

“HDFC Bank management has been indicating positive growth in the current financial year with a strong comeback on the operating performance front. The growth in HDFC Bank’s stock price is also partly led by a strong market sentiment that has prevailed as the fear of an impending third COVID wave has weakened,” she said.

The bank’s management, in its July earnings call, had also indicated that the lender is looking at “solid growth” in the ongoing financial year.

“If I were to take any insights and share with you for the first 15 days trends for the month of July '21, HDFC Bank is echoing the projection of almost 100% of pre-COVID levels on the disbursement. And that gives me the optimism that in quarter two, which is July, August and September, we should be in a position to scale up rapidly on our growth rates,” said Arvind Kapil, the bank's country head for retail assets at HDFC Bank’s earning call in July.

“...our assessment and our belief is that we should be back on course to achieve the original financial year plans and should close the year on a solid growth for the financial year,” he said.

Last week, the bank said it would launch co-branded credit cards in partnership with Paytm. The launch, planned in October, it said will coincide with the festive season as the lender looks to tap into potentially higher consumer demand for credit card offers, EMIs and Buy Now Pay Later options, with the full suite of products to be on offer by the end of December.

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