AU SFB shares in focus as deposits jump 30% in Q2, advances up 24%

Shares of AU Small Finance Bank (Ltd) are in focus on Wednesday morning after the SFB said its gross advances grew 24 per cent in the September quarter while deposits were up 30 per cent for the same period. Gross advances stood at Rs 65,029 crore in the September quarter, up 24 per cent over Rs 52,452 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total deposits rose 30 per cent YoY to Rs 75,743 crore from Rs 58,335 crore YoY. CASA deposits came in at Rs 25,666 crore, up 4 per cent YoY. CASA ratio stood at 33.9 per cent against 35 per cent in the June quarter and 42.3 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.

"Domestic inflationary pressure was higher, and the monsoon progress remained below historical average for the month of August. This, coupled with global macro, ensured that the interest rates remain elevated, and the systemic liquidity continued to remain tight. Amidst this backdrop, the bank once again delivered a stable quarter with growth seen across deposits and disbursements," AU SFB said. 

Despite higher competitive intensity for deposit mobilisation, the bank grew its overall deposits by 9 per cent sequentially with CASA deposits growing 6 per cent QoQ. Credit demand remains resilient with disbursement sustaining across products and the Bank continued to see an uptick in disbursement yields on a QoQ basis, AU SFB said.  Asset quality continues to follow the seasonal trend and remains within the range, it added.  

AU SFB said it announced the formation of “Swadesh Banking” to bring sharper focus on  bringing all rural initiatives under one umbrella covering deposits, assets and financial & digital inclusion.

"The bank also formed “Digital Banking” group whereby all the digital business initiatives of the Bank, like Credit card, UPI QR code, Merchant lending, Personal loans, Video Banking, AU 0101 etc., were brought under one leadership to align strategy and bring synergy in our Digital businesses. Notably, credit card business has now reached 7 Lakh-plus live credit cards with monthly spend crossing Rs 1,350 crore-plus in September. During the quarter, the Bank opened 54,000+ savings account via Video banking + AU 0101," AU SFB said.

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