Bandhan Bank has set its sight on three focus areas over the next two to three years. The bank has set a target of 15-17 per cent growth in advances, with deposits outpacing the advances growth. This is significantly higher than the 9.8 per cent growth the bank saw in FY25.

Around 55 per cent of the total advances is expected to be secured lending, while the cost of credit is expected to decline further to 1.5-1.6 per cent.

Outlining the strategy, the bank’s MD and CEO Partha Pratim Sengupta said, “Over the next couple of years, our strategic priorities are centered on achieving deposit growth that outpaces advances growth with emphasis on stable granular retail deposits. Given the current macro environment, we are targeting an advance growth of 15-17 CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) over the next three years. We expect secured advances to constitute over 55 per cent of total advances.”

As of March 31, 2025, the secured advances of the bank was 50.5 per cent of the total asset book of the bank.

Sengupta said the secured loan book of the bank will grow at a reasonably higher pace compared with the microfinance book in the coming years.

“Credit costs are expected to remain elevated in the first half of FY26 and to some extent also in Q3FY26. But our focus will be towards improving the portfolio quality and targeting to reach a credit cost of 1.5-1.6 per cent,” he said. The bank’s credit cost in FY25 was 2.9 per cent.

Net profit jumps

Bandhan Bank reported a nearly six-fold jump in net profit at ₹317.90 crore for March quarter 2024-25. The bank had earned a profit of ₹54.62 crore in the same quarter a year ago, driven primarily by lower write-offs. During Q4FY24, the bank made a technical write-off of ₹3,852 crore, while in Q4FY25, the technical write-off was ₹1,136 crore.

The net interest income of the bank during Q4FY25 was ₹2,756 crore compared with ₹2,859 crore in Q4FY24, down 4 per cent. Net interest margin during Q4FY25 was 6.7 per cent compared with 7.6 per cent in Q4FY24, the fall primarily on account of the year-on-year decrease in high-margin microfinance assets.

For 2024-25, net profit rose 23.1 per cent to ₹2,745 crore from ₹2,230 crore in FY24.