Punjab National Bank is planning to expand its global operations. The bank will soon set up a subsidiary in Canada, have a representative office in Australia and expand in the erstwhile Soviet block.
The bank already has a subsidiary in London with five branches, two in Hong Kong, one in Dubai, one in Kabul and representative offices in Kazakhstan, Shanghai and Oslo. To fund its expansion, the bank is in the process of raising up to $100 million debt with a greenshoe option by the end of this month.
Talking to media, KR Kamath, MD & CEO, said PNB is also planning to buy 64% stake in a Kazakhstan bank with an investment of $24 million. ?We have received RBI approval for the same,” he said.
Total business of the bank grew 20% to cross Rs 4,35,931 crore mark from Rs 3,64,463 crore in March 2009. Net profit of the bank amounted to Rs 3,905 crore as compared with Rs 3,091 crore and the operating profit during the financial year ended March 2010 grew 28.8% to reach Rs 7,326 crore from Rs 5,690 crore. The deposits of the bank rose to Rs 2,49,330 as on March 31, 2010, exhibiting an y-o-y growth of 19%.
On the domestic front, Kamath said that about 200 more branches would be added in the current year to the existing 5,000 branches.
Meanwhile, the bank has launched the ambitious ?Project Namaskar? under which 1 lakh touch points, which include branches, ATMs, kiosks and business correspondents, will be established in unbanked villages by 2013 to extend the bank’s outreach. Under this, 30 kiosks have been opened covering 119 villages, reaching 1.32 lakh beneficiaries.