New Delhi: State-owned Punjab National Bank is planning to open a representative office in Dubai as part of plans to expand its global footprint.
PNB Managing Director Atul Kumar Goyal said that the bank has received the approval of the Board of Directors to open a representative office in Dubai and the process of obtaining regulatory approval is underway.
Hopefully, he said, if all regulatory approvals are received, the representative office should open during the current financial year.
As of March 31, 2024, PNB had a presence in six countries through two subsidiaries (London-UK and Bhutan), one joint venture (Nepal), two representative offices (Myanmar and Bangladesh).
Talking about the strategy to improve profitability, he said, focus will be on expanding retail, agriculture, MSME (RAM) portfolio, good corporate lending, controlling slippages and improving recovery.Besides, he said, there will also be an emphasis on achieving higher fee income from selling third-party products to improve foreign exchange earnings and increase non-interest income.
Regarding improvement in interest income, he said, the focus will be on increasing low-cost deposits CASA (Current Account Savings Account).
CASA as a percentage of total deposits stood at 41.4 per cent at the end of March 2024, he said, adding that the target is to improve to 42 per cent by the end of the current financial year.
The bank intends to keep the credit cost below 1 per cent during this financial year.
With all these efforts, he said, the return on assets (ROA) is expected to increase by 0.8 per cent during the year and reach 1 per cent by the end of March 2025, which will lead to a substantial jump in profits.Asked about projected business growth in the current financial year, Goyal said, credit growth is expected to be 11-12 per cent, while deposits will be 9-10 per cent.
To fund this business growth, the bank has taken approval to raise capital of Rs 17,500 crore from share sale through Tier I and Tier II bonds and private placement during the year.
During FY24, the bank had raised Rs 10,000 crore from Tier I and Tier II bonds at a very competitive rate, he said.
PNB Managing Director Atul Kumar Goyal said that the bank has received the approval of the Board of Directors to open a representative office in Dubai and the process of obtaining regulatory approval is underway.
Hopefully, he said, if all regulatory approvals are received, the representative office should open during the current financial year.
As of March 31, 2024, PNB had a presence in six countries through two subsidiaries (London-UK and Bhutan), one joint venture (Nepal), two representative offices (Myanmar and Bangladesh).
Talking about the strategy to improve profitability, he said, focus will be on expanding retail, agriculture, MSME (RAM) portfolio, good corporate lending, controlling slippages and improving recovery.Besides, he said, there will also be an emphasis on achieving higher fee income from selling third-party products to improve foreign exchange earnings and increase non-interest income.
Regarding improvement in interest income, he said, the focus will be on increasing low-cost deposits CASA (Current Account Savings Account).
CASA as a percentage of total deposits stood at 41.4 per cent at the end of March 2024, he said, adding that the target is to improve to 42 per cent by the end of the current financial year.
The bank intends to keep the credit cost below 1 per cent during this financial year.
With all these efforts, he said, the return on assets (ROA) is expected to increase by 0.8 per cent during the year and reach 1 per cent by the end of March 2025, which will lead to a substantial jump in profits.Asked about projected business growth in the current financial year, Goyal said, credit growth is expected to be 11-12 per cent, while deposits will be 9-10 per cent.
To fund this business growth, the bank has taken approval to raise capital of Rs 17,500 crore from share sale through Tier I and Tier II bonds and private placement during the year.
During FY24, the bank had raised Rs 10,000 crore from Tier I and Tier II bonds at a very competitive rate, he said.
