Kapila, Arjun appointed to HDFC Bank Board

Two professionals – one a senior, the other very young, but both representing key shareholders – have been appointed to the Board of HDFC.

The duo is LOLC Group CEO and Managing Director Kapila Jayawardena and Perpetual Capital Director and CEO Arjun Aloysius. The latter, who is only 27 years old, becomes by far the youngest director to serve on a board of a listed financial services institution.

Perpetual, widely regarded as the newest kid in the market, holds a 15% stake in HDFC Bank and is the second largest shareholder, whilst LOLC has a 13% stake, ranking number three. The State-owned National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) holds a 49.7% majority stake in HDFC Bank.

The new appointments were approved yesterday by the HDFC Board meeting followed by the bank’s AGM.



Sources said that shareholders at the AGM had welcomed the appointments and with board representation, the second and third largest shareholders are expected to make a significant contribution to HDFC’s future strategies and growth.

Kapila, who prior to joining LOLC was the Country Head and CEO of Citi for nine years, is expected to bring in global insights to HDFC Bank. Arjun holds a B.Sc in Finance from Bond University of Australia, whilst he heads the Free Lanka Group’s investment arm, managing Rs. 10 billion worth of investments on behalf of the Group.

In 2010 HDFC Bank, whose chairperson is Siromi Wickramasinghe, doubled its lending while also nearly tripling after tax profit, laying the platform for more robust growth in the future.

The sole housing finance specialist had provided 10,739 housing loans worth Rs. 3.06 billion in 2010 up from 5,977 facilities worth Rs. 1.4 billion. Total gross loans and advances as at 31 December 2010 amounted to Rs. 13.1 billion, up by 8.5% from Rs. 12.1 billion in 2009.

Whilst top line had marginally dipped with gross income of Rs. 2.25 billion in 2010 from Rs. 2.26 billion, pre-tax profit had grown by 72% to Rs. 281 million and after tax profit amounted to Rs. 135.3 million, up by 140% from Rs. 56.4 million. HDFC Bank’s total assets grew by 7.5% to Rs. 15.3 billion.