Federal Bank eyes 30% jump FY13

South-based lender Federal Bank is targeting a jump of 30 per cent in remittances this fiscal, helped by factors like rupee depreciation and resilience in economies from Middle East, a top official has said.

"During the last quarter, our remittances grew 50-55 per cent. While it may not be as high for the entire fiscal, I think we should achieve a growth of 25-30 per cent for 2012-13," bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Shyam Srinivasan said

Federal Bank accounted for 7.5 per cent of the NRI remittances pie last year and derives a sizable amount of revenue from the segment, both through deposits as well as fees for facilitating the fund transfer.

Srinivasan said with Indian currency now trading in the Rs 55-56 levels and its depreciation over the past six months will help get more NRIs interested in sending money.

On if he is concerned of job losses, he said economies in Middle East and South East Asia - the mainstay of the bank on remittance side - have shown resilience in recent times and there is no reason to be afraid.

"The situation is bad in western Europe. For us, the remittances are continuing to be good and I do not see a drop in the future," he said.

On the bank's plans to establish a presence overseas, Srinivasan said it will have to wait for at least the next six months as regulatory go-aheads are yet to come through.

The bank is proposing to open a branch at the Dubai International Finance Centre and a representative office in Dubai itself, he said.

The bank, which inaugurated its 1,000th branch in the country recently, has the capacity to add another 150-200 branches, Srinivasan said, refusing to give a timeline for it.

With 285 branches already launched in the last year and half, the bank will first assess the performance of the recently opened branches before expanding further, he said.

... contd.

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