The Hindu Business Line : We are very optimistic about our future here: Citi

New Delhi, Nov. 1 Highlighting that Citibank has been in India for 107 years and is one of the oldest banks in the country, Mr Mark T. Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, Citi South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka), described Citibank India as a local bank that happens to have a foreign parent.

Mr Robinson, an MBA graduate from the University of Chicago, is a Citi veteran having been with the company for over 24 years. While in Citi, he has looked after its businesses in Pakistan, New York, Hong Kong, Turkey, Israel, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

In an interview with Business Line , on the sidelines of the recent ‘Microfinance India Summit’ here, Mr Robinson said Citi is excited about the opportunities in India and would like to open more branches across the country to serve more customers. Currently, Citibank has 40 branches in 28 locations in India.

For the year ended March 31, 2009, Citibank India’s total revenues increased by 24 per cent to Rs 10,423 crore. At March 31, 2009, its balance sheet recorded 26 per cent growth from the previous year to touch Rs 105,264 crore and its net profit after tax saw a 20 per cent increase to Rs 2,173 crore. Excerpts:

Can you give some details on Citi’s plans for India?

We have been here for over a hundred years. We have been investing all of our net income and profits from India in the country itself. We will continue to do that in the foreseeable future. We want to grow as fast as we can prudently grow in this country.

We are investing right across the board in our businesses — including consumer banking business, commercial banking and corporate banking. We are very focused on these businesses in India. We are very optimistic about our future in India — not just next year, but for years to come. We also have the longest investment banking presence in the country and it is one of the biggest. We want to continue to grow that too. We are not in insurance or asset management as it concerns a lot less to us.

On definite numbers on investment, it is a little bit difficult because banks are not like manufacturing businesses. But I can tell you that all of our net income we had in the last financial year, all of it will remain within the company. We are not declaring any dividends or sending remittances to our shareholders. We will continue to invest in the country and the market here. But every other bank in India does declare dividends or send remittances to their shareholders.

Do you plan to open more bank branches in India?

Citi would love to be able to open more bank branches in India. Now there are some limitations in our ability to do that. But certainly over time if the opportunity arises and government policy evolves, we would look very favourably (into) opening more branches for the very simple reason that it would enable us to better serve our existing customers. Besides, we can potentially serve more Indian customers and provide banking services around the country. The conference (on microfinance) is about looking for opportunities to increase the number of people who have access to banking services.

What are your views on the economic recovery, globally and in India?

Globally, you will find every opinion under the sun on economic recovery — green shoots, not green shoots. It is very difficult to comment on this. It (economic recovery) will be different for every country. All I would advice anybody is (to) continue to be very balanced in how they approach the next 12 months. I think India has got a very sound outlook the next 12 months. But not all countries are going to go through what India is going through. So we may not see things materialise in the optimistic scenario like some people think.

How would you like to see banking sector reforms evolve in India?

Every country has a different view towards the role they wish the financial sector to play and how they wish to see the financial sector support the real economy and the structure they would like to have, and how they like to regulate it. To a large extent, there is a debate going on in many countries, particularly those that have been most impacted by the financial crisis over the last couple of years.

I think India would pursue an India model, a model that is most appropriate for India. In terms of what that might mean, clearly I would say generic things such as a clear set of rules so that financial services players can invest prudently and plan for the future and continue to look for opportunities to support the real economy. So it will be an evolving regulatory environment in India. What I would like to see is continuing efforts to make sure the clarity of regulation is as high as possible so that our industry can invest like other industries.

How important for you is your investment in the microfinance sector?

I believe that among the private sector banks we are the largest lender to microfinance companies in India. Globally, we are also the bank that is most involved in supporting the microfinance industry. We lend money and are also involved in the Citi Foundation in terms of helping educate both borrowers and people in the microfinance industry about what we call ‘responsible finance’. This will make microfinance an attractive investment. In India, we have got a team of five people dedicated full-time to microfinance. We are just going to continue to grow that area. The microfinance portfolio is extremely important to us. We expect many microfinance institutions in the country to go public and also raise debt.

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