ICICI Bank plans to open 1,500 branches in 4 yrs

In a major expansion drive, ICICI Bank plans to add about 1,500 branches over a period of four years against the existing strength of about 2,500.

With the addition, the branch network to go up to 4,000 by 2015, a senior official of ICICI Bank said.

The branch expansion will help increase its presence as well as business, the official said, adding it will help mobilise cheap resources.

Currently, the bank has a network of 2,533 branches and 6,301 ATMs in the country.

During 2010-11, ICICI Bank acquired Bank of Rajasthan which enhanced branch network and strengthened presence in northern and western India.

The merger of Bank of Rajasthan added over 450 branches to the network. The branch network of the bank increased from 1,707 branches at March 31, 2010 to 2,529 branches at end of 2010-11.

Branches are the key points of customer acquisition and service. It is also centre for generating fee income by selling third party products, the official said.

For the year ended March 2011, the bank registered 28% increase in net profit at Rs 5,151 crore against Rs 4,025 crore a year ago.

However, the total income of the bank declined to Rs 32,621.95 crore during the year from Rs 33,184.58 crore in the previous fiscal.

During the year, deposit grew by 26% while advances expanded by 19%.

The bank also reported an improvement on the asset quality front during the year, with the net non-performing assets ratio going down to 0.94% from last year's 1.87%.

The provision coverage ratio of the bank improved to 76%, in line with the regulatory demands, while the overall capital adequacy was at 19.54%.