IOB targets Rs10,000cr from global ops

Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has set a revenue target of Rs 10,000 crore from its overseas expansion, slated to take place over the next year.

IOB is currently logging revenues of Rs 5,000 crore from operations out of its 11 overseas branches. The bank will soon open a representative office in Dubai, besides branches in Vietnam and New Zealand.

Chairman and Managing Director S A Bhat said the Vietnam branch would begin operations by March 31, while the New Zealand branch will start functioning from December 2009. The Dubai representative office will commence operations in June 2008, he added.

Most of the overseas branches are mainly into forward credit trading, besides traditional banking activities. "Currently, IOB has two branches each in Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, Bangkok, and one each in South Korea, Malaysia and China, which together have brought in revenues of Rs 5,000 crore in the last nine months of the current financial year," Bhat said.