Chennai, June 11 (IANS) City Union Bank, an old generation private lender based in Tamil Nadu, Thursday said it will raise Rs.250 crore over the next two years to fund its expansion plans.
“Our target is to have a net worth of Rs.1,000 crore in two years time. For that we will have to raise Rs.250 crore,” N. Kamakodi, executive director of the bank, told reporters.

However, the mode of raising the funds has not been decided yet, he said.

In order to attract young customers, the bank is now opening counters at colleges in the state.

It opened 19 new branches last fiscal, taking the total branch network to 208, Kamakodi said.

Added S. Balasubramanian, managing director and chief executive: “This fiscal we will seek RBI’s (Reserve Bank of India) permission to open 70 more branches.”

He said the bank’s board met here Wednesday and approved the annual accounts for the 2008-09.

The bank posted a total income of Rs.366.25 crore last fiscal, up from Rs.290.06 crore the year before.

However, its net profit fell 32 percent to Rs.122.13 crore last fiscal from Rs.180.15 crore in 2007-08.

The bank’s total business stood at Rs.13,893 crore (deposits Rs.8,207 crore and advances Rs.5,686 crore) in 2008-09 as against Rs.11,000 crore (deposits Rs.6,425 crore, advances Rs.4,575 crore) the year before.

“The board has also approved a dividend of 75 percent, up by 15 percent over the previous year,” Balasubramanian said.