Bandhan Bank plans to open 187 new branches in the current fiscal with the RBI’s approval.

“These 187 branches will be located in places where there are good pockets of deposits,” said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, managing director and CEO of Bandhan Bank.

The bank, which posted a 45.44 per cent rise in net profit in the June quarter of 2019-20, was asked by the regulator to seek its approval on opening new branches as it had failed to bring down the promoter holding to 40 per cent under the licensing conditions.

The bank, however, has set the ball rolling by acquiring Gruh Finance, following which the shareholding of Bandhan Financial Holdings is expected to come down to 61 per cent from 82 per cent earlier.

As of June 30, 2019 the bank operated 999 branches against 937 a year ago. The bank’s network is more skewed towards the East and Northeast, which together constitute 65 per cent of the bank’s geographical distribution.

Ghosh said the bank is looking to complete the merger of Gruh Finance first and then look at options to further bring down promoter holding.

Net profit

Bandhan Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 701 crore for the June quarter against Rs 482 crore a year ago. Net interest income rose 36.07 per cent to Rs 1,411 crore from Rs 1037 crore a year ago.