Andhra Bank to open branches across West Asia

Kochi: Andhra Bank, planning to have a presence in West Asia, will open offices in four centres soon. The bank, which opened its office in Dubai in May, has applied to the Reserve Bank of India for opening offices in Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The bank's board has also approved a proposal to set up offices in Qatar and Kuwait while an office at Bahrain is also on the anvil. The bank's idea is to spread strategically in West Asia where a lot of people from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are working.

Andhra Bank had posted a total business of Rs 56,406 crore, comprising Rs 33,922 crore of deposits and advances of Rs 22,484 crore and had set a target of achieving a total business of Rs 67,000 crore for the fiscal 2006-07 comprising Rs 39,000 crore of deposits and advances of Rs 28,000 crore. It also plans to open 100 branches and an equal number of ATMs in the current year.

Andhra Bank, which has reported a 208 per cent net profit from core banking operations for the financial year ended March 2006, has decided to focus on low-cost deposits during the current fiscal to sustain growth. Last year, the bank had achieved a profit of Rs 485 crore. The low-cost deposit currently stood at Rs 12,322 crore.