As regulatory clearances were taking a long time, Punjab National Bank (PNB), the country’s largest lender, has dropped plans of entering the Canadian market. Earlier, the bank had plans to open a subsidiary in Canada with a capital of Rs 100 crore to serve Indian community as well as to finance bilateral trade and investments. At present, the bank has overseas footprints in 10 countries with 4 overseas branches.
Meanwhile, the bank is planning to upgrade its representative office in Sydney (Australia) to a full-fledged branch. The bank has got permission from RBI for opening a representative office in Yangon (Mynamar) and Dhaka (Bangladesh).
The bank posted a fall of 28.69% in its net profit at Rs 806.35 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 1130.80 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank increased by 8.18% at Rs 12498.23 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 11552.84 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.
