Panaji, Dec 6 (IANS): Reliance Commercial Finance, a unit of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, aims to completely come out of the unsecured lending business by the end of the current financial year to improve asset quality and profitability, a top official said.
"Our strategy is to completely move out of unsecured loans segment. Currently, we have around Rs.166 crore unsecured loans in our book. By the end of the current financial year it will be eliminated," said K.V. Srinivasan, chief executive officer of Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Home Finance.
He said the company has prepared a strategic plan to completely move out of the unsecured lending business.
"In 2008, almost 28 percent of our lending was unsecured. Today it's just around one percent," Srinivasan told IANS here.
Total lending by Reliance Commercial Finance has more than doubled in the last three years. The company's total lending was Rs.7,120 crore in March 2008. It rose to Rs.15,035 crore by the end of the quarter ended Sep 30, 2011.
Srinivasan said the change in the company's strategy to completely move out of unsecured loan was not due to any particular guidelines by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or global economic and financial crisis.
"We have changed our lending philosophy. It is not due to any guidelines from the RBI or the global economic situation," he said.
Reliance Commercial Finance started its business in 2007. It is part of the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed Reliance Capital.
Srinivasan said that in just four years, the company has extended over Rs.30,000 crore credit, almost half of which is already repaid. "This is pretty good from the industry standards."
The company's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declined to 1.3 percent in September 2011 from 3.6 percent in March 2010. NPAs of the company's secured lending is 1.1 percent.
Asked whether the company targets to further reduce its NPAs, Srinivasan said: "This is quite good by any global benchmark and we would love to keep it at this level."
Most of the financial institutions, including the big lenders like State Bank of India (SBI) are struggling to improve their asset quality and reduce their NPAs or bad debts.
"Our aim is to be the preferred and most profitable provider of asset-based financing by 2013," he said.
Srinivasan, who has been spearheading Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Home Finance business since 2007, said the company targets nearly 20 percent growth in lending and almost 15 percent growth in profit during the current financial year.
"Our profit increased by around 15 percent in the first half of this fiscal while credit growth was 20 percent, broadly in line with the industry. We expect almost a similar growth in the second half," he said.