London: Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd, a UK-based wholly owned subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB), has been awarded 'Investment grade' ratings with
'Stable outlook' by the leading rating agency Moody's.
According to S K Dubey, General Manager, Punjab National Bank, New Delhi, PNBIL is one of the youngest banks to be rated by Moody's. The rating agency has awarded Baa3 / P-3 for Bank Deposits and D- for Bank Financial Strength Rating (BFSR) to PNBIL.
PNBIL, which started its operations with two branches in London and Southall in May 2007, added two more branches at Leicester and Birmingham during 2009.
With four branches in the UK, PNBIL's account base has reached 11000. The customer deposits of the bank are now more than USD 310 million and Customer advances are USD 430 million. With a capital base of USD 78 million, it has reached balance sheet size of USD 700 million.
The bank has earned profits from inception and has been able to post pre-tax profits of USD 3.16 million during the half year ended Sept 2009.
S R Sharma, Managing Director of PNBIL, said the achievements were possible due to the strong brand equity of technology based products such as Chip & PIN based Debit Card, Internet Banking and On-Line Deposit/Remittance products, competitive interest rates and customer centric approach.
PNBIL has followed the concept of Relationship Banking, which has enabled it to expand its customer base in such a short span of time, Sharma said.
Remittances to India remain a major attraction for NRIs due to attractive exchange rates, low remittance charges (free transfer of funds to PNB accounts) and same day transfer
facility.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009, 09:27