Andhra Bank to focus on Middle-East expansion

Kochi, Jul 17 (UNI) Focusing on overseas expansion, the public sector Andhra Bank has decided to set up representative offices in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman, Bank Chairman M Ramakrishnan said today.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Ramakrishnan said the bank had already opened a representative office in Dubai in May this year.

It had applied to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for licence to open offices in Kuwait and Qatar and would apply shortly for Saudi Arabia and Oman also, he said.

Stating that the bank was making steady progress, he said it made a net profit of Rs 485 crore in last financial year and had declared a 35 per cent dividend.

In an effort to provide better services to its customers, the bank had launched a ''mobile branch'' with ATM and other facilities in Hyderabad on an experimental basis. With the service proving to be quite popular, there were plans to launch similar ''mobile branches'' in Mumbai and other cities also.

It had also started 0800 am to 0800 pm banking and Sunday working branches, he said.

Mr Ramakrishnan said the bank was planning to open 100 more branches and an equal number of ATMs in the current year. Currently, it had 1218 branches, 122 extension counters and 408 ATMs.

The bank, which did a total business of over Rs 56,000 crore last year, had set a target of Rs 67,000 crore for this fiscal.

UNI ARC AJ 1422