NEW DELHI, Apr 6: Private lender Federal Bank plans to open an office in Dubai as part of its strategy to expand its global footprint and cater to the Indian diaspora.
“We have approached the Reserve Bank to seek their permission to open a representative office in Dubai (UAE),” Federal Bank Managing Director Shyam Srinivasan told PTI.
The bank is awaiting regulatory approval for opening the representative office there, he said. The bank already has a presence in the United Arab Emirates with a representative office in Abu Dhabi.
Domestically, the bank headquartered at Aluva in Kerala, has 1,142 branches across the country.
The bank is also exploring the possibility of entering the credit card business in 2015-16 as part of its diversification drive. It will look for an alliance or an acquisition for the credit card business, Srinivasan said.
Private sector lender IndusInd Bank had entered this segment by acquiring Deutsche Bank’s card business in the country.
With the diversification, Federal Bank would be able to enhance its revenue stream and earn more fee-based business.
Srinivasan said the bank is also making efforts to reduce its non-performing assets or bad loans.
Federal Bank, a part of the consortium that had given loans to Kingfisher Airlines, has recovered Rs 10 crore till date.
“So far we have recovered Rs 10 crore from Kingfisher Airlines. We had an exposure of Rs 85 crore in the company,” he said.
The State Bank of India-led consortium of 17 banks has an outstanding debt of about Rs 7,000 crore from the now-grounded carrier.
SBI has the maximum exposure, over Rs 1,600 crore, in the Vijay Mallya-led airline. It is followed by Punjab National Bank (Rs 800 crore), IDBI (Rs 800 crore), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore) and Bank of Baroda (Rs 550 crore).
Federal Bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) came down to 2.83 per cent at the end of the third quarter from 3.85 per cent at the end of December 2012.
During this period, its net NPAs dropped to 0.86 per cent from 0.92 per cent. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel