Dhanalakshmi Bank to open 16 branches more in Andhra

Thrissur-based Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited is planning to open 16 more branches across Andhra Pradesh by the end of March 2006.

"At present, we have only six branches in the state (including the newly-opened Visakhapatnam branch). By the end of this fiscal, the bank will open six more new branches at Nellore, Tirupati, Kakinada, Eluru, Khammam, Nizamabad and Vijayawada and 10 more branches will be opened during the next fiscal," T R Madhavan, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, told media persons here.

"We are focusing on Andhra Pradesh as we see a good potential for banking business here," he added.

"At present, the bank has 169 branches across the country, with most of the branches being in Kerala. By the end of this fiscal, the number of branches will go up to 180," he said.

The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of the bank was 13.56 per cent against the mandatory requirement of 9 per cent, he added.

In the current fiscal, the bank is targeting Rs 300 crore new deposits. During 2003-04, the bank's net profit was at Rs 17.48 crore, and is upbeat on good profits this fiscal too, he stated.

"Dhanalakshmi Bank has tied up with Euronet Worldwide for setting up 100 ATMs by the end of this fiscal. The bank has also decided to join CASHNET - the first independent nation-wide shared ATM network in the country. With this, our customers will get access to around 3,300 ATMs across the country," Madhavan said, adding that 10 branches have already been brought under centralised banking solution (CBS), and CBS would be extended to another 90 branches by the end of this fiscal. "With this the bank customers will get 'any where any time banking facility'," he said.

With a view of making available value-added services to the non-resident Indians (NRIs), the bank will be setting up NRI Boutiques (relationship centre) at seven locations by the end of next month, he said, adding that the bank has proposed to set up a representative office in Dubai in the next six months.