Canara Bank plans to open 1,250 new branches in current fiscal

Canara Bank is planning to open 1,250 new branches this fiscal, expects new branches to make a turnaround in one-two years. For setting up new branches, the bank’s emphasis will be on rural, semi-urban areas than urban/metropolitan regions. This is because of lower real estate prices and cost of operations. The bank, during fiscal 2013-14, opened 1,027 branches, taking the total branch network to 4,755, including five overseas branches. Canara Bank has posted a fall of 15.79% in its net profit at Rs 610.83 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, as compared to Rs 725.38 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank has increased by 22.57% at Rs 11609.72 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 9471.57 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.