StanChart looks for acquisition after 2009

India's largest foreign bank Standard Chartered is waiting for 2009, when the banking sector will be fully opened up for foreign competition, to acquire a domestic bank.

"When the market liberalises in 2009, we can make acquisitions and grow faster," said chairman, E Mervyn Davies.

Standard Chartered has the largest presence among all the foreign banks operating in India. It has 83 branches, a retail client base of over 2 million and more than 1000 top corporate relationships.

"We are looking to become a pan India bank in the next 10-20 years. We want to become a major player in wholesale as well as consumer banking," he said.

Though the licensing policy has limited the number of branches in the country, the bank is expanding operations in rural areas through micro financial institutions. It expects to increase exposure in micro finance from the current Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore by 2008-end.

India accounted for 16.2 per cent of Standard Chartered Group's profits in the first half of 2007 compared with less than 5 per cent some years back.

"India is highly important for the future of Standard Chartered. We are looking for a bigger percentage of profits from India," Davies said. India is the second largest market for the Group.

Standard Chartered's growth in the future will be driven by India and China in particular, and Asia and Africa in general, Davies said.

About 60-65 per cent of the Group's profits are now coming from Asia and Africa. The bank funded overseas acquisitions by Indian companies amounting to $10 billion in the last 12 months.

Standard Chartered's Indian operations have reported 50 per cent jump in operating profits to $320 million in the first half of 2007, while the total income rose 48 per cent to $563 million.