Karnataka-based Canara Bank is planning to go on an expansion plan at the international level. The bank's Chairman and Managing Director Mr A C Mahajan said that they plans to open ten overseas branches and offices.

The bank has also received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start ten new branches in places that include Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Muscat, Manama, QFC-Qatar, Leicester, New York, Sao Paulo, Dar-er-Salam and Tokyo.

Mr Mahajan said that in the medium-term, they are planning for global expansion and these ten centers will be amongst the 21 international financial centers that the bank plans to start in the coming times. He informed that despite of the financial crisis hitting the globe, all overseas branches of the bank managed to post profits as on December 2008.

He further said that the bank's newly started subsidiaries - Canara Robeco Asset Management Co Ltd and Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co Ltd - that are in their first year of business are also making "good progress"

For the quarter ending on December 31st, 2008 Canara Bank has reported a jump in its profits that grew by 53% to Rs 702 crore against the same period a year ago. The net profit of the bank was witnessed at of Rs 458.83 for the quarter under review.