ICICI Bank join hands with German bank

Based in Munich, Bayern LB is the seventh largest German bank with an asset base of more than $434 billion. It is the principal bank in the region of Bavaria and acts as a central bank to more than 70 savings banks in the region.

Bayern LB offers a wide range of services to institutional, corporate as well as retail customers. The bank also has a subsidiary which is a prominent player in the home loan business. Bayern has operations across the globe and is present in all major financial centres.

Over the last few years, ICICI Bank has been trying to emerge as the most preferred bank of Indian companies which are globalising their operations. The bank has opened branched across major cities in South East Asia and UK. The bank also has a subsidiary in Canada and is waiting for regulatory approval to start operations in the US.

ICICI had last year acquired a small bank in Russia, which is seen as an entry point into the fast growing retail financing market in that country.

ICICI Bank had come out with a follow-on public issue during the quarter ended December 2005 to shore up its capital base and meet the growing credit demand. The bank raised a total of around Rs8,000 crore from the domestic as well as international offerings.

For the quarter ended December 05, ICICI Bank reported a net profit of Rs640.08 crore, or Rs8.38 per share on a diluted basis, as compared to Rs580.05 crore or Rs7.84 per share for the September quarter. Total income for the quarter increased to Rs4,762.78 crore as against Rs4,324.86 crore.