ioc-sundaram fin venture launches powerplus
chennai: indian oil corporation and sundaram finance ltd have announced the launch of their co-branded, value-added, fleet card- powerplus. the card will be available in two options-debit and credit card.

initially, the marketing alliance will be rolled out in select trunk routes in southern states and in 26 select indian oil outlets. in about 8 to 12 months time, powerplus fleet card will be available nationally.

while the debit card will carry negligible operating expenses, the credit card will carry an interest charge of 16 per cent, the lowest among electronic card payment plans on offer.

25 january 2002

icici net rises 1.27%
mumbai: icici reported a net profit rise of 1.27 per cent in the october-december quarter from a year ago.

icici posted a net profit of rs 2,56.15 crore in the december quarter compared with rs 2,52.93 crore a year ago.

24 january 2002

pnb gilts q3 net down 50%
new delhi: pnb gilts reported over 50 per cent dip in net profit to rs 38.03 crore in the third-quarter of the present fiscal as against rs 58.01 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year due to write-offs for depreciation.

however, it also posted 343 per cent rise in its net profit at rs 83.63 crore for the first nine months of 2001-02, as compared to rs 18.85 crore.

the fall in net profit for the latest quarter was on account of write-offs for depreciation in the previous year, which witnessed heavy pressure on rupee and interest rates.
total turnover stood at rs 177.56 crore in the first nine months, up by 28 per cent from the previous year period figure of rs 138.92 crore on account of increased trading in the market.

pnb gilts would also venture into derivatives, apart from opening a branch in bangalore for focusing on non-wholesale clients.

hdfc board okays jv with chubb
mumbai: the board of housing development finance corporation (hdfc) has approved a plan to set up a general insurance company jointly with us insurer chubb corp.

the board, subject to the receipt of requisite licence from insurance regulatory development authority (irda), approved in principle the proposal to set up a joint venture company between the corporation and chubb global financial services corp usa for the business of general insurance.

corp bank q3 profit up 10.2%
mumbai: corporation bank has posted a 10.2 per cent rise in net profit at rs 91.45 crore for the third quarter ended december 2001, compared to rs 82.96 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

total income in the quarter was up by 15.5 per cent at rs 602.08 crore as against rs 521.10 crore in q3 of last fiscal.

the total interest income was higher at rs 500.12 crore, a rise of 10.6 per cent (rs 452 crore in q3 of last year). provisioning of bad and doubtful debts was lower at rs 17.70 crore (rs 23.15 crore).

for nine months ended december 2001, the net profit swelled by 21.3 per cent to rs 262.73 crore (rs 216.52 crore) while the total income stood at rs 1,744.17 crore (rs 1,532.94 crore).

uti bank may issue shares to lic
mumbai: uti bank is in talks with life insurance corporation for making a preferential allotment of equity. the proposed move is aimed at lowering utis holding in the bank to 40 per cent from 44.9 per cent by 31 march.

uti bank had earlier placed 26 per cent equity stake with south asia regional fund and cdc financial services (mauritius), which are among the funds managed by cdc capital partners. the equity placement at rs 34 a share helped in lowering the uti holding in the bank to 44.9 per cent from 60.7 per cent.
the present negotiations with lic for raising fresh capital and diluting the parents holding is aimed towards fulfilling the instruction of the reserve bank of india.

adb evinces interest in arc
new delhi: asian development bank has evinced interest in the proposed asset reconstruction company for tackling the over rs 56,000-crore non-performing assets.

the arc, for which a presentation had been made to the finance minister, would be set up with an initial equity capital of rs 200 crore, while the government might provide some funds for the equity of the company, which would be mainly floated by banks.

the working group on arc comprised officials from rbi, banking division of finance ministry, indian banks association and select banks.

the government intends to ensure that the arc, which would buy out npas of banks and try to recover it, does not get sick itself after some years.

highest safety rating for sundaram finance
new delhi: sundaram finance's rs 150 crore medium term debenture and rs 50 crore short term debt issues have been assigned the highest safety rating by credit rating agency icra.

icra also retained the highest safety rating to its fixed deposit programme, apart from re-assigning the same safety to rs eight crore long term debenture after factoring in the strong franchise and its ability to generate good quality assets in the core retails business even amid recessionary market conditions.

icra cautioned that increased competition in the financial services industry and the sustained pressure on the lending rates were expected to impact profitability over the long term.

23 january 2002

icici bank profit jumps 73%
mumbai: icici banks net profit for the quarter ending december 2001 stood at rs 70 crore, marking a 73 per cent rise from the same quarter a year ago. the total income in the quarter has also gone up by 51 per cent to rs 717 crore.

sbi sets up payment gateway
thiruvananthapuram: state bank of india has launched its own payment gateway system which will make funds transfers from one customer to another within one hour. sbi is using its own v-sat network to facilitate speedier transactions through the payment gateway. transactions originating from the sbi branches are now being routed through the reserve bank's v-sat hub in hyderabad before being directed to the bank's own central hub in mumbai

pf board recommends 9.5% interest rate
new delhi: the board of trustees of the employees provident fund has recommended a steady 9.5 per cent interest rate on the fund for 2002-03.

the fund managed around rs 59,939 crore as on 31 december 2001.

the rate on this scheme is one of the benchmarks for long-term interest rates.

psu banks to be allowed recruitment
new delhi: the government has decided to decentralise recruitment of bank officers and do away with setting up of a banking services commission for the purpose.

a bill to repeal the banking service commission act would be introduced in the budget session of parliament.

the modified system is aimed at helping reduce the regional imbalances and providing flexibility to the banks in conducting examinations as per their requirments.

boi bond issue oversubscribed
mumbai: bank of india's rs 160-crore tier-ii bond issue for a tenor of 63 months was oversubscribed. the base issue was of rs 100-crore and had a greenshoe option of rs 60-crore, said a press release.

the issue, which received `aa+' rating from the credit rating information services of india (crisil), was priced at 9.20 per cent

22 january 2002

hdfc cover for home loans
new delhi: housing development finance corporation (hdfc) has launched home loan insurance cover from hdfc standard life for its customers.

a customer taking a home loan from hdfc will now be given an option to buy this policy for the loan sanctioned by the housing finance major.

under the scheme, in the eventuality of any mishap, and if the customer opts for this policy, the surviving family members do not have to repay the loan amount.

hdfc also has an option to finance the custmer's acquisition of the insurance package. there are two options before the consumer: pay the premium in one go, or in 10 or 15 instalments. customers paying annual premium for 10 or 15 years will get full benefits if they die during the cover period.

hdfc expects 70 per cent of its 800,000 existing home loan customers to opt for this new scheme.

pnb privilege card launched
new delhi: punjab national bank has launched 'pnb privilege card', a pre-approved personal loan. the card, which would be automatically issued to all its eligible customers, would entitle holders a maximum loan of upto rs 1 lakh.

the card is expected to benefit army officers, educational institutions, government employees and psus.

hdfc teams up with chubb
mumbai: housing development finance corporation (hdfc) has finalised its foray into the non-life insurance sector along with collaborator chubb corporations of the us.

the joint venture between chubb and hdfc will be the seventh non-life company in the country where only reliance industries has gone solo for the business.

chubb will have a maximum 26 per cent stake while the remaining 74 per cent will be held by hdfc with a minimum capital of rs 100 crore.

however, for all practical purposes, both the partners will have equal say in the running of the joint venture.

mr deepak parekh, chairman of hdfc, will be chairman of the company while the chief executive officer of the company will be from chubb corporations.

21 january 2002

vysya bank promoters hike stake
mumbai: promoters of vysya bank have hiked their equity holding in the bank by 4.7 per cent through creeping acquisition.

at present, the promoters hold 28.10 per cent against 23.4 per cent as on 30 september 2001.

the shares were bought by the promoters primarily from foreign institutional investors and private corporate bodies.

idbi to get $100-m loc from adb
new delhi: idbi has got a line of credit of $100 million from the asian development bank. idbi has also reached the final stages of an arrangement with kfw of germany for co-financing of infrastructure projects.
the funds will be lent against private infrastructure projects in karnataka, andhra pradesh, gujarat and madhya pradesh.

the duration of loan from adb will be 20 years on floating rate basis.

the kfw deal is being negotiated and is likely to be taken up at the latest indo-german meeting. kfw is a development bank for developing countries that operates on behalf of the german government.

kinetic eyes partner for fin arm
mumbai: the arun firodia-controlled kinetic group is planning to rope in an equity partner for its finance outfit, kinetic finance.

kinetic finance is likely to finance 1.3 lakh kinetic two wheelers with a disbursal of around rs 250 crore in the current fiscal.

the firodias are looking at the option of joining hands with a foreign bank or a financial institution to bring the advantage of lower cost of capital to the business.

pnb to float ipo by march
new delhi: the punjab national bank (pnb) plans to offer 4 crore shares in the primary market by the end of the current financial year. the bank, which would offer about 15 per cent of its equity, is approaching the securities and exchange board of india (sebi) with its prospectus shortly.

pnb's ipo is expected to be at a fixed price. the banks share has a book value of rs 120.

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