HDFC Securities, a subsidiary company of HDFC Bank has announced the appointment of Mr Aseem Dhru as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer effective immediately.

Mr Dhru, who is 37 years old, was earlier with HDFC Bank as its Executive Vice President, Head – Business Banking, Mortgages, Commercial Transportation. In his new role at HDFC Securities, he will oversee and drive strategies to further enhance the growth of the company.

In his 10 years with HDFC Bank, Mr. Dhru has successfully handled various responsibilities across the retail banking spectrum and has managed several technology initiatives for the bank. Mr Dhru comes with a solid academic and 14-year strong professional background. He is a Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant by training.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Dhru said: “It is an exciting opportunity specially given the interesting times in the stock market right now. With online trading fast becoming a way of life, we at HDFC Securities will continue to focus on enabling our customers to have an increasingly smoother transactional experience backed by high-end technology. We will consolidate our position as a leading full spectrum financial distributor offering customers convenience, confidentiality and expertise of our in-house research team in profitably managing their equity and debt portfolio. We aim to build this company into the top five brokerage house in both the institutional and retail segments in two years time.”

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ABOUT HDFC BANK

Promoted in 1995 by Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), India's leading housing finance company, HDFC Bank is one of India's premier banks providing a wide range of financial products and services to its over 10 million customers across hundred of Indian cities using multiple distribution channels including a pan-India network of branches, ATMs, phone banking, net banking and mobile banking. Within a relatively short span of time, the bank has emerged as a leading player in retail banking, wholesale banking, and treasury operations, its three principal business segments.

The bank's competitive strength clearly lies in the use of technology and the ability to deliver world-class service with rapid response time. Over the last 10 years, the bank has successfully gained market share in its target customer franchises while maintaining healthy profitability and asset quality.

As on December 31, 2007, the Bank had a network of754 branches and 1,906 ATMs in 327 towns/cities.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2007, the bank reported a net profit of Rs.1,119.1 crores, up by 40.3%, over the corresponding nine months ended December 31, 2006. Total deposits were Rs 99,387 crores, an increase of 48.9% as compared to December 31, 2006. Total balance sheet size increased by 46.7% from 89,608 crores as of December 31, 2006 to 131,439 crores as of December 31, 2007.

For the half year ended September 30, 2007, the bank reported a net profit of Rs.687.7 crores, up by 37.3%, over the corresponding six months ended September 30, 2006. Total deposits were Rs 91,069 crores, an increase of 43.5% as compared to September 30, 2006. Total balance sheet size too grew by 44.1% to INR 1215.45 billion (Rs. 1,21,545 crores) from Rs 843.69 billion ( Rs. 84,363 crores).

For the year ended March 31, 2007, the bank reported a net profit of INR 11.42 billion (Rs1142 crores), 31% higher over the previous year ended March 31, 2006. Total deposits at INR 682.98 billion (Rs.68,298 crores) were over 22% higher. Total balance sheet size too grew by 24% to INR 912.36 billion (Rs.91,236 crores).

Leading Indian and international publications have recognized the bank for its performance and quality.

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