By IANS
Hyderabad : UBS AG, the Swiss-based global financial services firm, plans to invest $65 million in two years to expand its operations in Hyderabad, its chief financial officer Clive Standish announced here Wednesday.
He was talking to reporters after the inauguration of UBS India Service centre campus at Financial District, Nanakramguda, on the city’s outskirts.
The campus, built with an investment of Rs.1.35 billion, has a seating capacity of 1,700. While the facility presently employs 1,000 people, it plans to increase the headcount by 700 more during 2007-08.
Standish said UBS AG had already invested $50 million in India to provide KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) for research and analytics, BPO (business process outsourcing) for transaction and data processing, and IT for infrastructure support.
Standish also announced that a second campus by first half of 2008 would increase the offshoring capacity in India by an additional 750 seats. The second campus will also come up in Financial District.
“India has been an attractive destination for investment bankers world over,” he said.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who inaugurated the UBS campus this evening, assured all assistance to the firm in expanding its operations.
UBS India Service Centre started its operations here in March last year and it provides back office and support services for its parent company. UBS Service Centre achieved an income of $35 million in 2006-07.
UBS is the leading global wealth manager, a top tier investment banking and securities firm, and one of the largest global asset managers. In Switzerland, UBS is the market leader in retail and commercial banking.
Standish said UBS is present in all major financial centres worldwide. It has offices in 50 countries, with about 39 percent of its 80,000 employees working in the Americas, 34 percent in Switzerland, 17 percent in the rest of Europe and 10 percent in Asia Pacific.
At the end of 2006, UBS’s operating income was more than 47.2 billion franks and a net profit of 11.2 billion franks.
In July 2005, the Andhra Pradesh government had allotted 11.5 acres of land for UBS to set up its campus. The foundation stone for the campus was laid in October 2005.
The first block of 65,000 square feet was completed in May 2006 while the second block of 150,000 sq ft is now ready.