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Bank of Punjab contemplates acquisitions

Bank of Punjab, a private sector bank, is in talks to acquire some banks based in South India, a financial daily said on Wednesday.

"We are talking with some southern banks and are yet to finalise the deal," Executive Director, Bank of Punjab, Tejbir Singh was quoted in the report. Singh could not be immediately reached for comment.

The newspaper said that Singh made these statements in response to talk the bank itself as an acquisition target.

The bank's deposits are seen rising to over Rs 30 billion by March 31 from Rs 26.5 billion till December 2000. Also, the loans are seen rising to Rs 16 billion from Rs 12 billion, the paper said.

Bank of Punjab has plans to open representative offices in Canada, UK, Australia and Dubai. It also plans to launch exclusive services for its high networth clients, it said.

The bank plans to raise the number of its automated teller machines to 150 by March end from the current 68.

The paper said that Bank of Punjab is targeting to add 20 branches and 38 e-bank centres in Punjab and Haryana, it said.

The shares of Bank of Punjab closed 0.3 per cent lower at Rs 15.95 while the sensex 30-share Bombay index ended 0.59 per cent higher at 4,070.73.

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