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Expecting 20% growth in overseas business, mid-size lender Union Bank of India (UBI) plans to open branches in London, Sydney and Antwerp by the end of financial year 2013-14.
The public sector bank, that has declared current fiscal as the 'Year of Retail' aims 15% growth in deposits and 16% rise in advances, while lending target to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) was pegged at 25% higher in comparison to 2012-13.
"We have two overseas branches in Hong Kong and Dubai. We plan to add three more branches by the end on 2013-14. Over representative office in London and Sydney will be converted into full fledged branches, while new branch will also come up in Antwerp (Belgium)," executive director, UBI, S K Jain said on Tuesday. Jain was here to inaugurate bank's new branch in Naroda area and attend other crucial meetings.
"The London branch is likely to come up within 2-3 months as the premises has been acquired and statutory permission from authorities is in advance stages," Jain further said. Talking about the business from these overseas branches, Jain said, "At present the overseas business was around Rs 15,ooo crore and we expect 20% growth this fiscal." UBI also has representative offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Abu Dabhi.
With regard to the targets for 2013-14, Jain said, "We target 14-15% increase in deposits, 15-16% growth in advances, while for MSME the target is 25%." The PSU bank also targets to increase its ATMs to 6,000 by end of current fiscal. The bank will also focus on agriculture lending owing to good monsoon season this year.
Union Bank reported a 9.5% rise in net profit to Rs 560.22 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. It had a profit of Rs 511.59 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal. Total income increased to Rs 7,613.53 crore from Rs 6,561.10 crore.
In 2012-13 UBI had a total business mix of Rs 475,000 crore comprising of Rs 264,000 in deposits and Rs 211,000 crores as advances. In Gujarat, Union Bank has a total business of Rs 25,000 crore comprising of Rs 15,500 crore of deposits and Rs 9,500 crore in advances. The bank also plans to open 16 new branches in Gujarat by end of this fiscal.
