Date:27/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/27/stories/2006092703672100.htm

Business

Federal Bank plans village initiative

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Federal Bank will soon launch a rural initiative, Samrudhi, as part of the societal commitment of the bank, chairman M. Venugopalan told an annual general meeting of the bank here recently.

In his presidential address, the bank chairman stated that Samrudhi would meet the banking needs of people in selected villages in the State. He said the bank was sponsoring the construction of a "learning centre" for the SOS Children's Village at Choondy, near Aluva. The Ganesh Bank of Kurundwad was recently amalgamated with Federal Bank.

The bank has 507 branches and 340 ATMs spread across 24 States of the country. Now the bank has obtained RBI licences for opening another 30 branches, which will be opened before December taking the total number of branches to 537.

The bank has tied up with Infosys for implementing their CBS software `Finacle' in all its branches. By the end of the current fiscal, majority of the bank's business will be carried out on the CBS platform. With the objective of diversification, the bank has signed a MoU with IDBI and Fortis Insurance International for incorporating a life insurance company. The operations of the company are expected to start by February.

The chairman said Federal Bank's shares were actively traded at NSE and BSE. The GDRs issued were listed at the London Stock Exchange. With GDR issue and the plough back of profit, the net worth of the bank increased to Rs.1,250 crores, registering a growth of 72.81 per cent. The book value of the shares of the bank increased from Rs.110.27 to Rs.146.03, he noted.