Federal Bank not to sell out in near term

Kochi: Federal Bank, which has been reportedly short-listed as a buyout target for ABN-Amro Bank, says it will not sell out in near term. "We have a critical base and an own brand. We are not interested in any sell-out or strategic stake sell," says Federal Bank executive director P R Sankaranarayanan.

Moreover, ICICI will retain its close to 30 per cent stake in Federal Bank, though it had merged with ICICI Bank. "ICICI has not come out with a statement willing their exit from our bank; we also have not heard from them," says Sankaranarayanan.

Federal Bank expects its net profit to be in the range of Rs 85 crore to Rs 90 crore in the current financial year marginally up from Rs 82.01 crore a year ago. "The economy is going through some hardships. We have not fixed our net profit target as yet it depends on so many things," he says.

The bank, however, expects to report a gross profit of Rs 250 crore in the current financial year. While Federal Bank plans to mop up deposits worth Rs 10,350 crore in the current fiscal, it expects to lend Rs 6,000 crore as advances in the current year, says Sankaranarayanan.