Bangladeshi Eastern Bank to open branch in Kolkata

Bangladesh’s Eastern Bank Limited or EBL is going to open a branch in India’s Kolkata.

The private commercial bank’s board of directors has given the nod to a proposal on the move, according to a disclosure published on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website on Sunday.

The bank will need $25 million to open the branch in India and it will keep $10 million more in additional capital, according to the bank.

The bank will provide the money from its own fund.

The Dhaka-based bank has its subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Myanmar, but the branch in India will be its first one abroad.

It will seek permission from the Bangladesh Bank shortly to open the branch in Kolkata.

EBL’s consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers will help it get the approval of the Reserve Bank of India.

“We will start working at full pace to open the branch in Kolkata once we get the approval of the Bangladesh Bank and the Reserve Bank of India,” EBL Managing Director and CEO Ali Reza Iftekhar told bdnewws24.com on Monday.

He could not confirm when they would be able to finish the work to set up the branch in India.

Established in 1992, EBL has 82 branches in Bangladesh now.

The bank has a paid-up capital of Tk 7.38 billion and its authorised capital is Tk 12 billion.

The amount of its reserve is around Tk 14.5 billion.

Of its total shares, sponsor-directors hold 31.56 percent, institutional investors 43.42 percent, foreign investors 0.51 percent and small investors 24.51 percent.

EBL offered 20 percent cash dividend in 2017.

Its earning per share was Tk 3.29 and net asset value per share Tk 29.64 last year.