CSB Bank Limited (CSBBANK) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone. Now the time is 11:00 a.m., and we are pleased to announce the commencement of the 104th Annual General Meeting of CSB Bank Limited. I invite Mr. Biswamohan Mahapatra, Non-Executive Independent Chairperson, to conduct the proceedings of this meeting. Over to you, sir.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Mr. Biswamohan Mahapatra, Non-Executive Independent Chairperson of the bank. I'm attending the meeting from the bank's Andheri office, Mumbai. A warm welcome to you all to this 104th Annual General Meeting of the CSB Bank Limited. This meeting is being held through video conferencing, VC and other audiovisual means, OAVM in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2013 with the applicable circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, MCA and the Securities and Exchanges Board of India, SEBI, extending permission for holding the Annual General Meeting through VC and OAVM without the physical presence of the members at a common venue to transact the business as set out in the notice of the meeting. Our goal is to encourage maximum number of participants of members from various locations across and to provide hassle-free facility for our members to vote and ask questions. We believe this platform encourage more members to attend and participate in this meeting without the constraint of locational issues. The bank has taken the requisite steps to enable members to participate and vote on the items being considered at this AGM in terms of above circulars and along with other provisions of the Companies Act 2013, SEBI listing obligations and disclosure requirements Regulations 2015 and the rules made thereunder. A live streaming of the meeting is available on CDSL's website for the convenience of all. Before we start the main proceedings of the meeting, I request my colleagues on the video conference to introduce themselves. Mr. Pralay Mondal.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Pralay Mondal, Managing Director and CEO of the bank. I'm attending this AGM from our head office at Thrissur. Thank you.

B.K. Divakara.

Good morning, everyone. I'm B.K. Divakara, Executive Director of the bank. I'm attending this AGM from the office, Thrissur.

Mr. Madhavan Menon?

I'm Madhavan Menon, Nonexecutive, Non-independent Board member. I'm joining this meeting remotely.

Mr. Sumit Maheshwari?

Good morning, everyone. I'm Sumit Maheshwari, Non-Executive Director of the bank. I'm attending this AGM from my office in Mumbai.

Ms. Sharmila Abhay Karve?

Good morning, everybody. I'm Sharmila Abhay Karve, Independent Director of the Bank. I'm attending this meeting from my residence in Pune. I'm also the Chairperson of the Audit Committee.

Mr. Sharad Kumar Saxena?

Good morning, everybody. I'm Sharad Kumar Saxena, Independent Director of the Bank. I'm attending this meeting from my residence in Navi Mumbai. I'm also the Chairperson of NRC, Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board.

Ms. Renu Kohli? Renu? Renu, are you on mute?

Good morning, everyone. I'm Renu Kohli, Non-Executive Independent Director of the Bank, and I'm attending this meeting from my residence in Gurgaon.

Mr. Deepak Maheshwari?

Deepak Maheshwari. I'm attending this meeting from my residence in Mumbai. I'm an Independent Director of the Bank and Chairman of the Managing Committee of the Bank. Thank you.

Mr. D.N. Narasimha Raju?

Good morning, everyone. I'm Narasimha Raju. I'm an Independent Director of the Bank, and I'm attending this meeting from my residence in Bengaluru.

Mr. Sudhin Choksey, Independent Director on the Board of Directors of the CSB Bank Limited, could not attend this meeting due to some personal exigencies. He is also the Chairman of the Bank's Risk Management Committee. I now request Company Secretary on the video conference to introduce himself.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Sijo Varghese, Company Secretary, joining this meeting from the Bank's head office in Thrissur.

Mr. Satish Gundewar, Chief Financial Officer, could not attend this meeting owing to personal exigencies. Thank you all. Apart from that, we also have the key executives of the bank joining this meeting through video conferencing from their respective locations. Mr. Sudhir N. Pillai, Partner; and Mr. Varun R.S., Director, Walker Chandiok & Co LLP, Chartered Accountants, Mumbai, the joint statutory central auditors of the bank are attending from Mumbai. Mr. P. Menakshi Sundaram, Senior Partner; Mr. S. Ramkumar Sankar, Partner; and Mr. S. Sanjeev, National Head, Audit and Assurance Sundaram & Srinivasan, Chartered Accountants, Chennai, joint statutory central auditors of the bank are attending from Chennai. Ms. Manisha Maheshwari, Partner, Bhandari & Associates, Company Secretaries, Mumbai, the Company Secretary of the Bank is attending from Mumbai. We have the requisite quorum present through video conference to conduct the proceedings of this meeting. Participation of members through video conference is being returned for the purpose of quorum as per the circulars issued by MCA and Section 103 of the Companies Act 2013. The quorum being present, I call this meeting to order. The bank has taken all feasible efforts to enable members to participate through video conference and vote at the AGM. I thank all the members, colleagues on the Board, auditors and the management team for joining the meeting over video conference. This being the AGM held through video conferencing and other audiovisual means, I request Mr. Sijo Varghese, Company Secretary, to take you through certain instructions regarding the participation at this meeting. Sijo, over to you.

Thank you, sir. Dear members, please note that this AGM is being held through video conference in accordance with the Companies Act 2013 and circular issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the SEBI. The facility of participation at this AGM through video conferencing or other audiovisual means is being made available for members in the manner as prescribed. All members who joined this meeting are by default placed on mute mode by the host to avoid any disturbance arising from the background noise and to ensure smooth and seamless conduct of this meeting. Bank has provided the facility to cast vote electronically on all resolutions set forth in the notice. Members who have not cast their votes yet electronically and who are attending participant in this meeting will have an opportunity to cast their votes during the meeting through the e-voting system provided by the CDSL, provided that they are not barred from doing so otherwise. Members can click on the vote tab on the video conference screen to avail this facility. Those members who already cast their votes prior to this AGM can also attend this AGM but shall not be entitled to cast their votes again. Bank has received requests from a few members to register themselves as speakers at this meeting. Accordingly, the floor will be open for these members to ask questions or express their views. The moderator will facilitate the session once the Chairman opens the floor for questions and answers. It may be noted that bank reserves the right to limit the number of members asking the questions depending on the available time at this meeting. Dear members, with the register of directors and key management personnel, register of contracts with the related party, body corporate or firms or other entity, et cetera, in which directors are interested certificates from the secretarial auditors of bank certifying that the CSB Bank's employee Stock Option Scheme 2019 are being implemented in accordance with the Securities Exchange Board of India (Share-Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulation 2021, auditors certificate and car auditor's report have been made available electronically for this meeting inspection by the members during this AGM. Members seeking to inspect such documents can send the request to e-mail address, [email protected]. As AGM is being held through video conference, the facility for appointment of proxies by the members is not allowed. And hence, there is no proxy registered for inspection by the members. Members are requested to refer to the instructions provided in the notice or appearing on the video screen page for seamless participants through video conference. In case members face any difficulty, you may reach out to one of the help numbers as provided in the AGM notice. Thank you very much. Okay. Now I invite Chairperson, Mr. Biswamohan Mahapatra to address the shareholders.

Dear shareholders, a very good morning to all of you. It is both an honor and a privilege to address you for the first time as the Chairperson of CSB Bank at a defining moment marked by continued steady performance and a year of institutional strengthening, especially infrastructure enhancement aligned with our journey towards SBS 2030 strategy, SBS Sustain, Build and Scale. This strategy aims to transform your bank into a midsized new age bank with a national presence by 2030. We deeply appreciate your generous support, which has been instrumental in driving this consistent performance and progress and in advancing us towards the goals outlined in the strategy. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I extend my sincere gratitude to each of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us for this meeting. I also warmly welcome all new shareholders who have joined us since the last Annual General Meeting held on August 23, 2024. We are currently in the advanced stage of the build phase of our strategy marked by sustained transformation across multiple fronts, including a comprehensive overhaul of our technology stack, expansion of product portfolio and significant enhancement of digital capabilities. In addition, we have expanded our physical presence, established strategic fintech partnerships, reinforced our liability franchise, streamlined core processes and made notable strides in customer acquisition and operational resilience. Macroeconomic insight. The global economic landscape is undergoing a profound transformation with traditional frameworks being redefined and a new global order still in flux. The recent escalation of tariff measures by the United States has created one of the most restrictive trade environments since the Great Depression, disrupting global trade flows and amplifying economic volatility. Amidst these global headwinds, India has demonstrated remarkable resilience, officially surpassing Japan to become the world's fourth largest economy as of June 2025 with a projected GDP growth of 6.5% for the FY 2024-'25. India's diversified export base and robust economy consumption have provided effective insulation from externals. As we move towards the centenary of independence, the nation has articulated a bold vision of becoming Viksit Bharat, a fully developed self-reliant economy by 2047. This aspiration, though ambitious, is grounded in realism and supported by the collective potential of over 150 crore citizens. The Indian banking sector delivered a stable performance in FY '24, '25, though a moderated credit growth of 12% on year-on-year and deposit growth of approximately 10.2% to 10.3%. A structural shift towards term deposits was observed, driven by rising interest rates and customer preference for stable returns. The sector is undergoing a digital renaissance with banks increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and hyper automation to enhance customer experience, operational efficiency and risk management. Cybersecurity has emerged as a strategic priority supported by national policies and AI-powered threat detection systems. Reserve Bank of India adopted a calibrated monetary policy stance, reducing the repo rate by a cumulative 100 basis points during the year to support credit growth and economic momentum. Year in review. Financial year '24-'25 marked a pivotal phase in our transformation journey. We successfully migrated to the Oracle core banking system, complemented by integrated surround systems, enabling scalable service delivery and data-driven decision-making. We expanded our branch and ATM network with the addition of 56 branches and 60 ATMs, bringing the total to 829 branches and 791 ATMs, thereby strengthening our pan-India presence. We adopted a strategic forward-looking approach to asset quality, combining proactive risk management with conservative provisioning. Accelerated provisioning and contingency buffers were deliberate measures to enhance resilience supported by timely adjustments to emerging risks to ensure portfolio stability. From both financial and operational perspectives, your bank delivered a strong performance in the financial year 2024-'25. Deposits increased to INR 36,861 crores, while gross advances reached INR 31,842 crores. Total income grew to INR 5,469 crores, driving operating profit to INR 910 crores and net profit to INR 594 crores. Despite a high interest rate regime, the net interest margin, NIM, remained robust at 4.13% Capital adequacy ratio stood at a healthy 22.6%, well above the regulatory requirements. Return on assets, ROA, was 1.53%, and return on equity, ROE, stood at 15.44%. Asset quality remains stable with gross nonperforming assets, GNPA at 1.57% and net nonperforming assets NNPA at 0.52%. ESG priorities. CSB Bank acknowledges the global climate emergency and is committed to supporting the transition to a low carbon economy. Through a proactive ESG framework, your Bank is reducing its carbon footprint, promoting diversity and inclusion and maintaining high ethical standards. Our lending decisions will be guided by robust environment and social risk assessments, and we will prioritize clients and projects that align with global climate targets and sustainable development principles. On the social front, your bank reaffirmed its commitment by supporting underserved communities with focused initiatives in education, healthcare, housing, sanitation and gender equality, aligned with its broader sustainability goals. A key initiative is Project Dialysis in partnership with the Fairfax India Charitable Foundation Trust which provides affordable dialysis services across India. Your bank aims to drive inclusive development through dedicated CSR funding and long-term impact strategies. Governance is the foundation of CSB Bank's resilience and long-term success. Our governance framework is anchored by a highly experienced Board of Directors and its specialized committees, ensuring rigorous oversight, transparency and accountability at all levels. This structure not only safeguards compliance with regulatory standards but also reinforces ethical practices across the organization. We remain committed to building trust through proactive engagement to stakeholders. By maintaining open communication, timely disclosures and robust risk management, we foster confidence among investors, customers and regulators alike. Our unwavering focus on integrity and responsible leadership continues to position your bank as a trusted and forward-looking financial institution. The road ahead. As we enter the scale phase in FY '26, '27, our focus will be on consolidating the gains achieved during the build phase and positioning the bank for accelerated growth. Our evolving business model is designed to deliver integrated need-based solutions across the retail, MSME and wholesale segments, enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency. With disciplined execution, strategic clarity and a strong emphasis on profitability and shareholder value, we are confident in our ability to emerge as a respected midsized institution by 2030. We remain committed to building a future-ready workforce through structured talent development, leadership training and skill enhancement initiatives with special emphasis on compliance and regulatory capabilities to ensure confident and ethical execution of our strategic road map. Together towards SBS 2030. As we reflect on our progress and the road ahead, I extend heartfelt gratitude to all who have been part of CSB Bank's journey, our investors, customers, associates, partners and well-wishers. Your trust and support continue to inspire us to pursue excellence and deliver lasting value. We are especially grateful to the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchanges Board of India, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the stock exchanges and the central and state governments for their unwavering support and regulatory stewardship. Their guidance has played a pivotal role in enabling our progress and ensuring that we remain aligned with the highest standards of governance, compliance and transparency. A special thanks to our senior leadership team led by Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Pralay Mondal. His strategic vision, relentless focus and flawless execution have steered the bank through a period of consistent success and transformation. Under his leadership, we have not only delivered strong and consistent financial performance but also laid the foundation for long-term institutional growth. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to the entire CSB Bank team. Your passion, resilience and pursuit of excellence have powered our progress, shaping a chapter defined by purpose, performance and pride. As we step into the high end of the build phase to roll out the scale phase, we do so with confidence and optimism inspired by your belief in us and strengthened by the collective efforts of all our stakeholders. Thank you for walking this path with us and for being an integral part of our journey towards becoming the respected midsized bank by 2030. Together, we'll continue to build a legacy rooted in trust and ultimately creating enduring value for all the stakeholders. Thank you. Now I invite Mr. Pralay Mondal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, to address the shareholders. Pralay?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and dear shareholders, good morning to all of you. I'm honored to extend a warm welcome to all of you to the 104th Annual General Meeting coming on the event of Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam. On an earlier occasion, I spoke at length about the SBS 2030 journey embarked upon by your bank and how we intend to position ourselves as a midsized bank in due course of time. I'm pleased to share glimpses of our SBS 2030 journey, the progress we have made, the financial performance for the last fiscal and the priorities for FY '26. Our annual report for the financial year '24-'25 has been already made available to you, and I trust you would have had an opportunity to review the content. Little bit about SBS 2030 Vision. We embarked on the Sustain, Build, Scale, SBS 2030 journey in March '22 with a vision of becoming a midsized full-service new age private sector bank by FY 2030. The entire SBS 2030 rest on five strong pillars vis-a-vis like governance, human capital, technology, customer service and compliance. We are making steady progress driven by clear strategic direction and sound execution, which is enabling us to translate each milestone into a tangible achievement. The initial sustain, build phase, which extends till FY '26, which is this financial year, is focused on reinforcing the trust and stability that we accumulated over a century. During this phase, we have been strengthening our capabilities, systems, processes and critical enablers to build a future-ready organization poised for scalable growth. We'll discuss this in details a little later. On the macroeconomic and the banking landscape, let me delve upon that subject a little bit. Before we delve into the performance of our bank over the last financial year, I'd like to briefly touch upon the macroeconomic and banking landscape in which we operate. The global environment continues to be uncertain. While financial market volatility and geopolitical uncertainties have subsided, trade negotiation challenges emerge fresh and continue to persist. Global growth is projected at 3% for 2025 and 3.1% in 2026. Though U.S. has announced new tariffs, the uncertainty surrounding the individual negotiations is impacting currencies, rates and commodity prices and global growth remains muted. However, global growth could be boosted if trade negotiations lead to the predictable framework and to a reduction in tariff. On the domestic front, India continues to be one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world economy and is outperforming the global peers. Domestic growth remains resilient, aided by private consumption and fixed investments. Our steady monsoon is supporting the agriculture activity. Service sector services are also robust. A significant economic development in 2025 was a drop in inflation and inflation being below its target, the Reserve Bank of India decided to keep the reported unchanged at 5.5% in its policy review in August. RBI had already cut reported by 100 basis points earlier in 2025 and is awaiting developments in growth and inflation trends for the necessary interventions. Mid-August also saw S&P Global upgrade India's sovereign credit rating from BBB- to BBB, citing resilience in growth and fiscal consolidation as key factors. This upgrade is expected to lower borrowing costs and attract more investments. As GST reforms is on the anvil, it is expected to improve sentiments further and aid growth momentum on the targeted levels. Regarding growth, the economic outlook for India remains positive with steady monsoon, lower inflation, rising capacity utilization and favorable financial conditions, all contributing to robust domestic economic activity. Foreign exchange results and improvements in the current account add to the country's economic stability. However, we shall remain vigilant regarding the potential impact arising out of global trade tensions and a widening trade deficit. Monetary, regulatory and fiscal policies remain aligned with the growth objectives with RBI projecting a real GDP growth rate of 6.5% for FY '25 and CPI inflation expected at 3.1% in FY '26. A little bit about the performance of the bank. As detailed in our annual report, your bank's performance over the last fiscal year remained robust despite being in the midst of a major technological overhaul. Our growth trajectory was -- exceeded the industry average with key financial ratios showing stability and strength during FY 2025. I'd like to highlight some of the key performance metrics for the fiscal '25. On the profitability front, strong operating performance with operating profit of INR 910 crores with 17% Y-o-Y growth. Total income grew by 30% over FY '24, reaching INR 4,569 crores. ROA stood at 1.53% for FY '25, surpassing the industry average of 1.4%. NIM could be sustained above at 13%. Despite the higher interest costs and adverse liquidity conditions, industry average is at 3.5%. Cost of deposits was recorded at 6.15% with yields on advances at 11.11 percentage. The ratio of noninterest income to total income improved to 21.27% from 16.64% in the previous fiscal year. Cost-to-income ratio stood at 62.82%. On the business front, total business reached INR 68,703 crores, marking 27% Y-o-Y growth. Deposits grew by 24% Y-o-Y, outpacing the industry growth of around 10%. CASA ratio stood at 24.19 percentage. Growth advances grew by 30% compared to the industry growth rate of around 12%. The gold loan portfolio exhibited a robust Y-o-Y growth of 35%. On capital and liquidity front, we have a strong capital base with a CRAR of 22.46%, significantly above the industry average of 17.3 percentage. Adequate headroom for future growth is there. Our lower proportion of risk-weighted assets at 40.68 percentage compared to the industry average. Leverage ratio of 8.38 percentage. Comfortable liquidity with LCR of 124% and NSFR of 121 percentage. On the asset quality front, we had stable ratios. GNPA stood at INR 498 crores of 1.57 percentage and NNPA was INR 164 crores or 0.52 percentage. PCR was maintained at 67.19% without PWO and 83.71 percentage with prudential write-off. Shareholder return. EPS improved to INR 34.23, up from INR 32.67 in FY '24. Book value per share is standing at INR 2.49, ROE of 15.44% compared to the industry average of 13.6 percentage. We remain optimistic about our ability to maintain and improve upon this performance in the upcoming fiscal year. Moving to the scale phase of our journey as we approach it, we are gearing up to commence this critical phase in FY '27, underpinned by a solid technological foundation and future-ready mindset. Let me now highlight several key aspects that will empower us to scale effectively and with excellence. State-of-art technology. Our IT strategy focuses on building a futuristic modular resilience and agile technology infrastructure to deliver exceptional customer experience through digital and AI solutions. This transformation, which includes migrating to a new core system and rolling out over 50 surround systems externally and 12 within the core system itself totaling to 62 surround systems has brought us closer to the scale phase. I had told in the beginning of the SBS 2030 itself that we will divide the phase into three parts: sustain, build and scale. The build phase will get over this year and scale phase will start in FY '27. So next four years from FY '27 will be the most exciting phase of this bank. The successful migration to the Oracle Flexcube on the core has significantly enhanced our ability to provide customized solutions, innovative products and seamless digital experience for our customers. This will open up immense opportunities for your bank in building a profitable customer franchise, which is key to our transformation. And already, I can comment that the entire product team, entire business teams are working on building a lot of these products as the system settles down. We have already built a strong distribution network. Our extensive distribution network offers strategic and operational advantage, ensuring last mile connectivity and service delivery. As on 31st March 2025, we have a total of 1,620 touch points comprising 829 branches and 791 ATMs. Gold loans being our key portfolio and a touch and feel kind of a business. Our branches have a key role to play. Since the past few years, we have been expanding our branches in West and North, which is helping us to build franchise while reducing the concentration risk. Our branches will complement our new revamped digital channels, giving flexibility and seamless omnichannel experience and options to customers. Last year, we have added 56 branches. We plan to continue this branch network expansion, adding approximately 60 to 80 branches annually, eventually aiming for 100 or more branches per year as we go towards the SBS 2030 Vision. We created verticalization also in the bank to retain focus. The verticalization implemented in your bank is helping us to have a customer-centric model, delivering more relevant and value-added solutions across segments. On the liability side, we have verticals like CASA, NR, Digital, TASC, Liability Sales, et cetera. On the advance side, we have four major verticals with gold loans, retail, other than gold, MSME and corporate with further subsegments. All the verticals have started contributing to the top line growth and momentum will go up once scale phase starts. In fact, last year -- last financial year, we had one of the most balanced growth across all these four segments. All the verticals have started contributing to the top line growth and momentum will go up once scale phase starts. This will also help us in achieving a more balanced business mix by FY 2030. Verticals have been formed in the support functions as well to bring in more expertise and focus. The assurance functions like risk, audit and compliance have been strengthened and technologically supported towards enabling better decision-making and improved performance, thus ensuring effective regulatory compliance, operational soundness and fraud prevention. Regarding products and service delivery, our new technological framework allows us to introduce a broader array of products and services to meet the diverse needs of our customers. Products such as premium banking, cash management, supply chain solutions, derivatives and factoring are already in the development, enabled by enhanced core system. This will transform our bank into one-stop financial service provider, driving customer loyalty and cross-selling opportunities. Regarding the funding structure, despite challenges in liquidity and funding management in the past fiscal year in India, we successfully navigated these hurdles by maintaining all regulatory ratios and keeping sufficient buffers. We manage our funding through a balanced mix of CASA, retail term deposits, bulk deposits and borrowings, including foreign currency borrowings. This stable, diverse cost-efficient and sustainable approach will enable us to comfortably support scalable and efficient growth. Once the franchise is built and the products, including retail assets are rolled out, the customer acquisition run rate with higher wallet share will improve, and this will further enhance our funding capabilities. Clearly, customer acquisition will be one of our key focus areas in the next three to four years. On the leadership and governance front, our Board of Directors comprises of experienced professionals with varied expertise, and they play a critical role in driving and monitoring the transformation journey, thus ensuring an ethical customer-centric transformation with sustainable value creation. The leadership team supported by the expertise and strategic foresight of the Board has been instrumental in navigating challenges and seizing emerging opportunities, ensuring alignment across functions and driving the right execution. Board and the leadership together will drive the seamless and impactful journey ahead. On the rating side, CRISIL and India Ratings have reaffirmed rating of our instruments with a stable/positive outlook, respectively. On ESG front, our commitment to environmental, social, governance, which in short is ESG, the principle remains at the core of our strategic vision. We are actively involved in financing projects aligned with climate risks, renewable energy and sustainability. This responsible banking approach ensures that our capital deployment contributes positively to both the environment and society. We'll be guided by ESG policies and scale phase, reaffirming our commitment to sustainable development. In fact, in our IFC borrowings, IFC was -- while partnering us, went through our initiatives here, and we went through a fair bit of scrutiny on that, and we came out clean on that front. In conclusion, what I will say is, as we near the completion of the build phase, we remain focused on establishing all the capabilities necessary for scaling your bank into a respected midsized institution by 2030. With your continued support and trust, we are confident that we will be successful in achieving this. I extend my sincere gratitude to our valued shareholders and customers for your trust and continued patronage. I also thank the Board of Directors for their valuable guidance and mentoring. Additionally, I'd like to acknowledge the regulatory bodies, including the RBI, SEBI, Stock Exchange and the central and state governments for their ongoing support and cooperation. I would like to acknowledge our leadership team and staff for their commitment and determination, which has been instrumental in helping our bank achieve significant milestones. This continuous efforts and enthusiasm provide me with great confidence and reassurance that we will move our vision forward, and we are fairly confident of achieving our SBS 2030 vision by 2030. Thank you very much. Back to you, Chairman, sir.

Thank you. Thank you, Pralay. I now turn to the other business in this AGM. The notice dated July 23, 2025, convening the meeting, the statement of profit and loss for the year ended March 31, 2025, and the balance sheet as at that date, together with the reports of the Board of Directors and the auditors thereon have been in your hands for quite some time. With your permission, I take the notice convening the meeting as read. I now request Mr. Sijo Varghese, Company Secretary, to provide a summary of the auditor's report. Sijo, please.

Thank you, sir. The joint statutory auditors, Walker Chandiok & Company LLP, Chartered Accounts; and Sundaram & Srinivasan, Chartered Accounts; and the secretarial auditors, Bhandari & Associates, Company Secretaries, Mumbai have issued unmodified opinion in the respective auditor's report for the financial year '24-'25. Hence, same are not being read out at this meeting. There were no qualification, observation or adverse comments on financial statement and matters which have any material bearing on the functions of this bank. The statutory auditor's reports are available on Page # 243 of the annual report. The statutory auditor's report is enclosed as annex to the Board's report on Page 176 of the annual report. Thank you, and back to you, sir.

Thank you. As the notice is hereby circulated to all the members, I take the notice convening the meeting as read. Before we proceed, I am pleased to bring to your notice that as required under the Companies Act 2013, the bank had provided you all the facility to cast your vote electronically on all resolutions set forth in the notice. Members who have not cast their vote electronically but are participating in this meeting will have an opportunity to cast their votes through the e-voting system provided by CDSL. Members may please note that there will be no voting by show of hands. We shall now proceed to deal with the various business of the meeting in their order as set out in the notice of the meeting. We'll open the floor for any questions by the speakers, shareholders after all the resolutions are tabled. Item #1, adoption of audited financial statements. The audited financial statements of the financial year ended March 31, 2025, including audited balance sheet and profit and loss account as at that date, together with the report of the Board of Directors and the auditors have been provided to the members. Item #2, reappointment of retiring Director, Mr. Madhavan Menon, DIN# 00008542. I invite the attention of the members to Item #2 of the notice. Item #3, fixation of remuneration of the joint statutory auditors. I invite the attention of the members to item #3 of the notice and the explanatory statement on the item. Now I come to the special business in this AGM. Item #4, appointment of BNP and Associates, Company Secretaries, Mumbai, as secretarial auditors of the bank and fixation of their remuneration. I invite the attention of the members to item #4 of the notice and the explanatory statement on the item. The next two items in the notice are item #4 -- sorry, item #5 and 6, which deals with approval of my appointment as nonexecutive part-time Chairman of the bank and fixation of remuneration. Since I am deemed to be interested in the item, with your permission, I request Mr. Pralay Mondal, Managing Director and CEO of the bank, to preside for transacting these items in terms of Article 98B of the Articles of Association of the Bank. Over to Mr. Pralay Mondal.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With your permission, I'm proceeding to deal with the next two items in order as set out in the notice of the meeting. Item #5, appointment of Mr. Biswamohan Mahapatra, DIN# 06990345, Non-Executive Independent Director as Nonexecutive part-time Chairman of the bank and fixation of his remuneration. I invite the attention of the members to Item #5 of the notice and the explanatory statements on the item. Item #6, approval for payment of remuneration to Mr. Biswamohan Mahapatra Mahatra, DIN# 06990345, Nonexecutive part-time Chairman of the Bank for the financial year 2025, '26, which would be in excess of 50% of the total remuneration payable to all nonexecutive directors of the bank for the same financial year. I invite the attention of the members to Item #6 of the notice and the explanatory statements on them. Thank you, and back to you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Pralay. Now I come to item #7. Reappointment of Mr. Pralay Mondal, DIN# 00117994, as the Managing Director and CEO of the bank for a period of three years with effect from September 15, 2025, to September 14, 2028. I invite the attention of the members to Item #7 of the notice and the explanatory statement on the item. Item #8, approval for continuing the material related party transactions with FIH Mauritius Investments Limited, the promoter of the Bank. I invite the attention of the members to Item #8 of the notice and the explanatory statement on the item. Item #9, approval for continuing the material related party transactions with FIH Private Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of FIH Mauritius Investments Limited, the promoter of the Bank. I invite the attention of the members to Item #9 of the notice and the explanatory statement on the item. The text of the resolutions, along with explanatory statements are provided in the notice circulated to the members. If any member desires to ask any question pertaining to any item in the notice, he or she may do so now. Now I will take questions from the speaker shareholders and invite the speakers who have registered. To avoid repetition, answers to all the questions will be given towards the end. Members may also note that the bank reserves the right to limit the number of members asking questions depending on the availability of time. Members are requested to keep the questions brief and specific. The company secretary will now announce the names of the shareholders who have registered as speaker shareholder one by one. Sijo?

Thank you, sir. Before we go live with the question-answer session, there are some points for your guidance. Name of the speaking shareholder will be announced in turn. The speaker shareholder thereafter unmuted by the host. To start, speaking shareholders are requested to click on to click-the-video-on button on center of your screen. Those shareholders who are not able to join through video for any reason can speak through the audio-mode. Please mention your name, folio number or demat account number and the location from where you're joining. Each shareholder will have three minutes for their questions. To avoid repetition, bank will respond to all the questions at the end. Once you have asked your questions you can log off and continue to watch the proceedings of this meeting. We will respond to as many questions as possible during this meeting. If you are not able to address any questions specifically during this meeting, we plan to post the questions and answers on our website after this meeting. We plan to post a recording of this meeting on the website of the bank at www.csb.co.in after this meeting. Kindly note that bank has received request from seven shareholders to speak at this AGM, and the name of the speaking shareholders will be announced in turn. First speaker shareholder is Mr. P. Gopal. Requesting Mr. Gopal to unmute and proceed with your questions.

14.72. So what proactive steps the management taking to overcome the same. And after 2023, the shareholders have not received any dividend from the management. So what proactive steps have been taken by the management to reward the minority shareholders in the years to come. So then overall, the company is good, sir, the corporate governance is good. I do appreciate the management for that. And I may not repeat the same questions again in the interest of time. I wish the company and the Board of Directors. Sir, kindly enable, View Enable, sir. I kindly ask all the shareholders to enable the video, sir, because now, it is very important for the company to know that who the shareholder, exact speaker is speaking or someone else is speaking. So video is mandatory, sir. So kindly keep all the shareholders enabled on the video in the interest of safety. Nothing much to ask, sir. I wish the company and the Board of Directors a great [indiscernible] in the coming future. And thank you for giving the opportunity, sir. Hope to see you in the upcoming hybrid AGM next year. Thank you very much, sir.

Thank you, Gopal. I think requesting shareholders to mute -- to put on your video from your end, actually it's already enabled actually. Next speaker is Mrs. G Vandana. Vandana, please go ahead with your questions. I think Vandana is not joined for this meeting. So we will move to the next person, Mr. J. Abhishek. Abhishek, please go ahead with your questions.

I think he is on mute. J., unmute yourself.

Mr. Abhishek, can you unmute yourself, so that we can hear you, please.

There was a delay from the part of the moderator. And first of all, I congratulate the management on the eve of 104th Annual General Body Meeting. Sir, I trust all is well with you and your family in this challenging situation. Our bank deserves much more respect than the current market cap after completing more than a decade of successful operations, profitability and becoming one of the strongest bank in the respective segment. Sir, what are the steps being taken by the bank to improve the EPS, [indiscernible] ratio? What are the steps being [ taken ] to conduct con call, quarterly presentation, sir? And what are the steps taken to recover the NPA, sir, which is a major factor for our bank to grow and our bank is doing really good in the past two, three years, we are able to see you outperformed. So I do appreciate the bank for their sincere efforts in bringing the bank to this particular direction and rewarding the minority shareholders in good numbers. So I don't have any much questions to be asked in the Annual General Body Meeting in the interest of time. I wish the Bank and the Board of Directors a great success and prosperity in the coming future. And thank you for giving the opportunity, sir. I hope to see you in the hybrid AGM next year. Kindly try to consider hybrid or physical, sir, in the years to come, sir, as most of the senior executives are not able to because of the digital challenges in this virtual platform and try to consider hybrid sir. Thank you very much, and thank you for giving the opportunity.

Thank you, Abhishek. Mr. Reddeppa, please go ahead with your questions.

Am I audible, sir?

Yes, yes, please go ahead.

Thank you. Thank you respected Chairman, Board members, my company secretary Varghese, Mr. Varghese, and all the my fellow members. Good morning, namaste, vanakam. Myself Reddeppa Gundluru from Hyderabad. As shareholder of CSB Bank, I'm very happy, proud about the company's performance, sir. Thank you, company secretary for sending the annual report well in time. In the annual report there is a wonderful colorful informative photos, numbers for speaking. Thank you for wonderful all the KMPs of my company and heads and CSB made a very wonderful annual report. And also under your leadership, Mr. Chairman and Company Secretary, the transparency is there with the high standard basically doing the and expanding the business thanks to you. Sir, and I have few questions to ask you, sir, about the business performance and growth. What is the bank strategy for expanding the branch network, digital banking services? Second question. How is the bank improving CASA ratio? Third question. What is the key growth areas like retail, MSME, corporate or gold loans? Fourth question. How is the bank competing with other private sector banks in terms of technology and customer service? Sir, asset quality and risk management question. What steps are being taken to reduce the NPAs and improve asset quality? Can you please share the bank's outlook on credit growth and loan demand in two years, sir. And another question is, how is the bank managing risk in the gold loan portfolio considering the price fluctuation? And technology and future plans, what was the -- what are the investments being made in the digital banking, UPI and fintech partnerships? And any plan to launch new products such insurance, wealth management or credit cards? With this I supporting all the resolutions, supporting all the resolutions, no questions from the resolutions. Please continue, sir. I'm traveling, I am in native place now. So I'm able to attend this AGM through VC. So please continue this financial through VC. Also, so with this -- once again, I would like to thank the company secretary and team, entire team, they always reachable, talk to the person, the team, they are one of the asset of our company. And we have faith on the Board, Chairman sir, we respect you, we have trust in the entire Board. Under your leadership, we will achieve many more higher awards in coming financial year. All the best. I wish good health. Pray God give us wisdom, strength, power and happiness entire Board member and families. Thank you so much, sir. Sir, finally, one request, sir, whenever I visit the Thrissur, ask company secretary to do the hospitality sir, like any, the lunch and or anything. We attended so many times but not given the lunch sir. Chairman sir, please instruct to our company secretary yearly once we visit Thrissur sir. At that time, they are not giving anything sir. Thank you, sir. Namaskar.

Thank you, Mr. Reddeppa. Next speaker is Mr. Bharat Raj. Mr. Bharat Raj, please unmute and proceed with your questions. Sir, our next speaker is Mr. Shyamsundari. So, please go ahead with your questions Mr. Shyamsundari. I think he also not joined this meeting. Last speaker is Mr. Ramesh Shinde. Ramesh, pleas go ahead with your questions. I think, he also not attend this meeting. Thank you all. With this, we conclude the question-and-answer session from all the shareholders. Now I hand over back to the Chairperson.

Thank you all. We received all the questions, all comments and observations from the listed speaker shareholders. Kindly note that those questions related to audited financial statements and operations of the bank, Mr. Pralay Mondal, MD and CEO, will respond. And those questions related to the resolutions proposed, Mr. Sijo Varghese, Company Secretary, will respond. We will also respond to those questions received by e-mail or mail. Now I hand over to Mr. Pralay Mondal to respond to the questions. Pralay?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So in addition to the questions which are asked by various speakers, we also have got some questions online. So I will try to respond all of them together because now the questions are common. On the first speaker, Mr. Gopal, on the point of dividend, which we responded last year also that we are in the build phase of the bank. Major investments are going into technology and building the infrastructure, distribution and everything. So of course, we have that in the mind. But until we get into the mid of the scale phase, we would like to invest as much for a better return on investment on the bank. So from that perspective, we don't propose dividend this year. Unfortunately, Mrs. Vandana could not join. On Mr. Abhishek's question, on the earnings per share, recovery of NPA, what action? I must say that we have been constantly improving on our shareholder returns on EPS and on the NPA, we are one of the lower NPA banks at this point of time, and we would like to keep it that way. There is a lot of planning that goes behind it. And as we scale and as we grow the bank, hopefully, we'll be able to sustain our quality of the portfolio, as you can see it today. On Mr. Gundluru's questions, he had a lot of questions. So I'll just try and answer some of them or all of them. First of all, happy to know that you're a happy shareholder. Thank you for your compliments for our Company Secretary and the team. And the transparency, transparency is the core of our bank. And that's the five pillars, which I mentioned in my speech, governance and transparency is one of the core of the bank, which we'll continue to focus on. Regarding the business performance, growth, digital products, asset quality and other things, it's broadly overall on the business front. While we have covered all of that in our annual report but more importantly, going ahead, what we plan to do is the phase -- scale phase is all about execution and scale and a lot more to do what we are doing. And today, we have the platform, we have the technology, which is settling down as we are talking. And by the end of this year, we will have one of the best systems available in the world through the Oracle and other tech platforms. It's just not core. We have done it with 52 surround systems. I'm also answering some of the questions which I got online. These are similar kind of questions. I'm trying a little more time on this. And we are not ending it here. We are going to put our trade systems, transaction banking systems, CMS systems, the supply chain. We are going to upgrade our corporate net banking. The digital transformation in terms of will happen on the top of the core stack. So there is so much plan which we have on our technology side, which we will leverage and build the product services. And of course, all of this is for customer experience. Customer acquisition will be one of our key focus areas because we have to grow the bank on the back of customers and satisfied customers. So onboarding processes and how do we ensure that we are in touch with our customers, cross-selling and ensuring that we have a better share of wallet for that with the right products to the technology will give us that opportunity. On your question, sir, on the gold loan price fluctuation, we are very, very conscious of that because 45% of our portfolio still is gold loan. And we do a sensitivity analysis every month. If everything is steady, if it is volatile, we do sensitivity analysis a lot more frequently. Having said that, our LTV on our gold loan is below 70% as we are talking. And hence, to that extent, we have derisked our portfolio quite a bit but we'll continue to monitor. On the UPI, wealth management, payments like credit cards and all of that, I think we are already having some of these businesses. I must say that our new tech has -- technology transformation has changed our entire UPI framework in terms of uptime and serviceability, and that's a fantastic achievement by the team. On the wealth management side, we'll wait for a while a little bit. Maybe in another two, three years, we'll start looking at wealth management in the truest sense because we need the right set of products and right segments to cater to, and we need that kind of a time to build the customer franchise. So that's on your question, sir. Now I will take, unfortunately, for maybe personal or technology reasons, Mr. Bharat Raj, Mr. Shyamsundari and Mr. Shankar Ramaa Shanker could not ask those questions. So we'll take the time a little bit in responding to some of the online questions, which we have got. So I'll combine all of it. So things like what I addressed in terms of the business growth and what is the future of the bank, how the growth triggers in the first and second half of this year, I have already explained that. So we always said that we'll grow 30% faster than the system. Last year, we grew much faster than the system. And hopefully, we'll be able to sustain a reasonable growth this year as well and going into FY '27 onwards. On employee question, which you got some questions regarding the employees, I think we have been able to keep a very motivated set of our employees. Productivity has increased. Business per employee is getting better. There has been a question that whether there has been sacking, we don't sack people. We don't believe in that question of sacking. We believe that we must motivate and encourage people. However, there are code of conducts, which are there, which are governed by the laws of the land, including regulators. So if there are anybody who's not following the code of conduct for the right governance and transparency, we must take action. There has not been any salary cut really for anybody. So there was one question on that. On the innovations and new product launches, I just talked about it, and you will see a host of new products getting launched now because the technology will allow us to do that. Regarding the cost-cutting initiatives, production enhancement, et cetera, I think our overall operating cost was up 12% year-on-year when the business grew by almost 30%. So obviously, we are starting to leverage the cost and the productivity at a time when technology is getting implemented. So that's on that front. There are questions on the portfolio stress on the unsecured book in line with the current industry trends, is there any issue with the bank. So I must say that we have been very prudent. Almost two years back, we started reducing our unsecured business. As we talk, retail unsecured portfolio, including MFI and personal loans and all of these credit cards and all of this together is less than 3% of the bank today. That portfolio is behaving as good or as bad as the entire industry is behaving but mix itself is small. So we are doing better on that front, and that has helped us in retaining our NPA ratio to a reasonable level. Investor relationship, I think it's a good suggestion. Right now, the question is, do you have con calls? Do you have quarterly presentations? Do we meet our global investors? We do that between me and our CFO, we take that responsibility. And we meet a lot of investors globally and locally. And on the day of the results, we have analyst call, which we do, which is recorded on Spotify and a transcripts are also available in the system. Also, we do media interactions on CNBC, NDTV and many other channels -- Zee and many other channels. So that also helps us in communicating the vision of the bank going ahead. And we do meet our global investors. A lot of investors with us are very large globally. So there are detailed conversations that happens there. The other question is what are the management efforts to reduce our expenses, et cetera? I have answered already that our overall expense cost was 12% growth vis-a-vis the overall bank growth of balance sheet growth of close to 30%. So from that perspective, at a time when technology transformation is happening, significant investment going there. So I think we are very conscious of the costs. I've already answered the question on the dividend. And there's a question about our respected directors who are all here. I think we are very lucky and fortunate to have directors who are not only guiding and driving us the way the bank should go on the governance as well as execution platform, significant expertise is there with respect to directors who are also helping us ensuring that in each of these streams, whether it is technology or quality of portfolio or on the business side or on governance side, process side, customer service side, regulatory, compliance side, everywhere, we have very, very senior directors in our Board who are guiding us constantly, and we are very, very fortunate for that. And last thing is where do we see ourselves in the industry in the next three years? And do we be more proactive and prudent. Of course, that's the idea. That's why we are getting into the scale phase. And I've already talked about the SBS 2030 journey and what we'll do there. Broadly, those are the kind of questions which you got. There was one question I just want to answer that as the last, which is a detailed PPT to give us an opportunity for a one-on-one discussion with management as we want to learn and understand the industry dynamics. So of course, that is available on the site. Please see our investor presentation that covers everything. Plus, as I said, that on Spotify as well as on the transcript of our analyst call gives everything detailed about how the bank has done last quarter and last year. With that, I think we have been able to reasonably cover most of the questions, whether it is online or the questions where speakers are able to speak. Thank you very much, and back to Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Thank you, Pralay. Members may note that the voting on the CDSL platform will continue to be available for the next 30 minutes. Therefore, I request members who have not cast their vote yet to do so within the next 30 minutes. The Board has appointed Mr. P.D. Vincent, Practicing Company Secretary, SVJS & Associates, Company Secretaries Kochi as the scrutinizer to supervise the e-voting process. Further, the results of the voting shall be declared and placed on the website of the bank within the prescribed time and in the manner as prescribed in the notice. The voting results, along with the report of the scrutinizer would be intimated to the stock exchanges and will be uploaded on the website of the bank and on the website of CDSL. The resolutions as set forth in the notice shall be deemed to have been passed today subject to the receipt of restricted number of votes. We had 64 members participating in today's 104th Annual General Meeting. Now that all the items of the notice of the meeting have been discussed and taken up for e-voting, I hereby declare the proceedings as closed, pending declaration of results of the voting. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank all the shareholders for attending the meeting and for the kind cooperation and assistance extended for the smooth conduct of the meeting. I'm also taking on record that the prescribed number of members required for constituting a quorum was present throughout the meeting. Thank you all. Thank you.