CHENNAI: Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) is stepping up its overseas deposit mobilisation, technology investments and branch expansion after reporting its highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs 412 crore for the first quarter of FY27, a 35 per cent year-on-year increase over Rs 305 crore reported during the same period of the previous fiscal.
The private sector lender's total business grew 23 per cent to Rs 1.22 lakh crore as on June 30, led by a 27 per cent jump in advances to Rs 57,306 crore and a 19.71 per cent rise in deposits to Rs 64,409 crore. Net interest income increased 32 per cent to Rs 765 crore from Rs 580 crore in Q1 of the previous financial year, while operating profit surged 48 per cent.
Calling it a milestone quarter, managing director and CEO Salee S Nair, on Monday, said the bank had delivered 23 per cent credit growth, "the highest in 14 years" and about seven percentage points above the industry.
"You can see the turnaround this bank has achieved in that one single number," he said.
While TMB has already mobilised $10 million, it is targeting $50 million through the RBI's special forex swap window and FCNR(B) route.
To strengthen its NRI franchise, the bank is evaluating liaison offices in Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai. "We realised that not having an overseas presence is a handicap when schemes like this are opened," Nair said, adding that the offices would focus on mobilising NRI deposits rather than overseas lending.
The bank has earmarked around Rs 280 crore for technology initiatives, spanning digital banking, mobile banking, trade finance, cybersecurity and AI-led automation. Last year, it had allocated Rs 250 crore, of which many were milestone-based disbursements.
AI has already been deployed to match employee skills with postings, while AI-powered call centre operations, fraud-risk management and transaction monitoring are being rolled out.
Nair said technology investments were already improving productivity, with manual branch transactions falling from 59 lakh in the March quarter to 55 lakh in the June quarter despite strong business growth.
The bank would ramp up presence in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat, while continuing to invest in digital capabilities, he said.