26 Oct 2002

Corpn Bank Q2 net up 27% to Rs 119 crore
Mangalore: The Mangalore-based Corporation Bank has posted a 27.3 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 118.70 crore for the quarter ended September 2002.

Syndicate Bank posts Rs 143.54 crore net profit in H1
Mangalore: Syndicate Bank has posted net profit of Rs 143.54 crore in the first half of FY 2003 compared to Rs 128.14 crore in the corresponding period of 2001-2002.

Crisil report pegs GDP growth at 5-5.2 per cent
New Delhi: The countrys gross domestic product will grow at 5-5.2 per cent and inflation will touch 3.5-4 per cent in the current fiscal, according to Crisils Center for Economic Researchs mid-year outlook.

Drought adds to bank NPAs in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Non-performing assets of banks in Maharashtra, particularly that of regional rural banks, have gone up due to drought in the state during 2001-02, according to the information provided by a few banks to the Lok Sabha Estimates Committee.

RBI cautions public on schemes
Mumbai: The RBI cautioned the public against investing in certain schemes floated in a manner such as sale of Internet products, multi-level marketing, network marketing, voluntary gift and multi-link investment which are banned under the provisions of prize chits and money circulation schemes(banning) act, 1978.

SyndicateBank to network 200 branches
Mangalore: Syndicate Bank has chalked out an technology adoption programme involving investments of around Rs 100 crore to be spent over the next 18 months. The bank proposes to implement the centralised banking solution (CBS), envisaging networking 200 of its strategic branches spread across the
country.

Peerless ties up with MetLife for savings bond
Kolkata: Peerless General Finance & Investment Company Ltd, the oldest and largest residuary non-banking company in the country, has tied up with MetLife India Insurance Company Pvt Ltd to offer free life insurance cover to those who purchase the Peerless Life Savings Bond.

UCO Bank H1 net up 17 pc
Mumbai: In the first-half of the current financial year (April to
September), UCO Bank posted a 37-per cent growth in operating profit (before provisioning and contingencies) to Rs 272 crore as compared against Rs 197 crore in the same period the previous year.

25 Oct 2002

Union Bank Q2 net up 136% to Rs 93 crore
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India (Union Bank) has reported a steep 136 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 93.36 crore for the quarter ended September 2002.

Union Bank to team up with StanChart for L/Cs
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India is all set to enter into an arrangement with Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) to issue letter-of-credits through the branches of the latter in south-East Asian countries.

BOBL net rises 12.5% to Rs 9 crore in H1
Chennai: Bharat Overseas Bank Ltd has posted a 12.5 per cent growth in its net profit during the half year ended September 30, 2002.

NCR bags cheque processing orders from ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank
Mumbai: NCR has bagged orders from HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank for implementing its image-based magnetic ink character recognition cheque-processing solution ChequeMark.

UTI Bank net up 42% to Rs 80 crore in H1
Mumbai: UTI Bank on Thursday reported a 42 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 80.15 crore for the first half of fiscal 2002-03 as compared to Rs 56.32 crore for the same period in the previous fiscal.

PNB bags award for excellent tech
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) has bagged the `Best Bank Award' for excellence in banking technology, while Canara Bank got a special award in the same category.

Re firm; gilts range-bound
Mumbai: The rupee closed almost unchanged on Thursday at 48.38/39 against the dollar as compared to 48.39 on Wednesday in the forex market. The supply of the dollar was seen to be reasonably good in the market, said a forex dealer.

Infosys eyeing global banks for CRM
Hyderabad: Software major Infosys Technologies Ltd has announced that it is targeting global banks with its recently launched banking customer relationship management (CRM) software product - Finacle CRM, which has been designed to suit the industry requirements.

Federal Bank H1 net up 22 pc
Kochi: The net profit of Federal Bank has grown by 22 per cent to Rs 51.34 crore (Rs 42.12 crore) during the first half of the current year. The most notable achievement of the bank was in reducing the net non-performing assets to 7.36 levels from 9.49 per cent.

Vysya Bank Q2 net slips 18.41 pc
Bangalore: The country's first foreign-owned local bank, Vysya Bank reported a net profit of Rs 18.17 crore for July-September (second quarter of the current financial year ). This was lower down by 18.41 per cent sequentially from Rs. 22.70 crore on the back of increased provisioning.

IDBI Bank net up on interest, fee incomes
Mumbai: IDBI Bank has reported a marginal rise in net profit at Rs 16 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2002, as compared to Rs 14.7 crore in the corresponding period the previous quarter.

Syndicate Bank moots `structural changes'
Hyderabad: Syndicate Bank could soon find itself with a surplus staff of around 2,000 and office space of over four-lakh sq ft.

Allahabad Bank IPO fully subscribed
Kolkata: Allahabad Bank's IPO has been fully subscribed, according to informed sources. The issue on offer was for mopping up Rs 100 crore. Nearly 90 per cent of the issue amount was subscribed in the first day itself by nearly 50,000 retail investors.

24 Oct 2002

Citibank, Shoppers stop launch co-branded cards
Mumbai: Citibank and Shoppers Stop on Wednesday launched a co-branded credit card with Mastercard International. Citibank also unveiled Citibank Financial Centre at Shoppers Stop in order to provide financial services to First Citizen Citibank members.

PNB Gilts net jumps 80 per cent to Rs 30 crore
New Delhi: PNB Gilts, the Delhi-based primary dealer, has reported an 80 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 30.01 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2002 compared to a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 16.63 crore during the corresponding period last year.

Union Bank unveils Lifeguard
Mumbai: Union Bank of India has launched a loan scheme 'Union Lifeguard' a emergency-cash-on-hand scheme, designed to take care of hospitalisation needs of its account holders.

South Indian Bank first half net up 20% to Rs 29 crore
Kochi: Thrissur-based South Indian Bank has registered a 20.3 per cent growth in its net profit for the first half of this fiscal.

Cheque processing centre in Mangalore
Mangalore: Corporation Bank has been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up an MICR cheque processing centre in Mangalore. This is the second MICR in Karnataka.

Kothari Orient to repay deposits
Chenai: The Chennai-based Kothari Orient Finance Ltd has given an undertaking in the Madras High Court that the company would repay the deposits totalling Rs 16 crore within 24 months, in instalments, the first such instalment commencing before December 2002.

Good response to SBI home fair
Chennai: The property fair sponsored by State Bank of India at Chennai last week drew over 15,000 visitors, bank officials said. The bank has accorded in-principle sanction of Rs 80.06 crore to 1,044 housing loan borrowers.

IRDA likely to phase out 5 pc special discounts
New Delhi: The 5 per cent special discount offered by the general insurance companies is expected to be phased out. Addressing a gathering of general insurance agents here on Wednesday, Mr N. Rangachary, Chairman of IRDA, said special discounts exist due to historical reasons in the insurance industry.

Panel to study motor premium
New Delhi: IRDA will set up a committee to study rationalisation of the motor premium being charged by insurance companies, N. Rangachary, Chairman of IRDA, has said.

Vijaya Bank entering bond market to raise Rs 150 cr
Bangalore: Vijaya Bank is entering the bond market for accessing Tier-II capital, according to M.S Kapur, the Chairman and Managing Directorof the bank.

Oriental Bank raises Rs 200 cr
New Delhi: Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has raised Rs 200 crore Tier-II capital through issue of bonds having currency of 5 years and 6 months at a coupon rate of 7.15 per cent, the lowest interest rate fixed to raise Tier-II capital by a bank.

Aga Khan Fund to hike stake in DCB
New Delhi: The Geneva-based Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is set to consolidate its equity holding in Development Credit Bank (DCB), the Mumbai-based Rs 5,950-crore private sector scheduled commercial bank.

Vysya Bank posts Rs 182-million net profit in second quarter
Mumbai: Vysya Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 181.7 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2002 as compared to Rs 161.1 million for SQ-2001. The total income has increased from Rs 2,881.7 million in SQ-2001 to Rs 3,002.8 million in SQ-2002.

Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL) is interested in hiking its aggregate shareholding in Vysya Bank to approximately 49 per cent. The promoter group of the bank agreed to sell to Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BBL Mauritius Holdings, to purchase 54,36,235 fully paid-up equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each, representing 23.99 per cent of the issued equity share capital of the bank at an average price of Rs 626.92 per share, subject to approval of the various regulatory authorities including the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the Reserve Bank of India.

In a subsequent letter, BBL has informed the bank that Banque Bruxelles Lambert is also interested in purchasing at a latter date, further shares comprising approximately 5 per cent of the issued share capital of the bank, either through market transactions or negotiated settlement, with intention to increase its aggregate shareholding to approximately (but not more than) 49 per cent of the issued equity share equity share capital of the bank, being the present maximum permissible limit for foreign direct investment in banking companies under the automatic route.

The bank has also decided to reduce its equity stake to 20 per cent in ING Vysya Life Insurance Company. The board of directors of the bank reviewed the banks shareholding in the insurance joint venture, ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Pvt Ltd, in the light of the current and emerging scenario and decided to reduce its equity stake to 20 per cent.

23 Oct 2002

RBI sets up panel to streamline WMA limit
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has constituted an advisory committee to examine the existing scheme of ways and means advances of the state governments and to consider rationalisation of the WMA limit.

Aviva Life to harness NGOs for rural foray
Hyderabad: Aviva Life Insurance, the UK based multi-billion insurance provider, has identified non-governmental organisations as an appropriate medium to penetrate into rural India.

Turnover of 32 banks on BSE zooms 650 per cent in Sept
Mumbai: The BSE's total turnover of 32 banks increased by 650.3 per cent to Rs 1518.55 crore during September 2002 from Rs 202.38 crore during August 2002.

HDFC opens Thrissur branch
Kochi: HDFC has opened its sixth office in Kerala at Thrissur, which will cater to the housing requirements of the residents of Thrissur, Kodungallur, Irinjalakuda and other places in the vicinity.

Federal Bank cuts home loan rates
Kochi: Federal Bank has slashed interest rates for its home loans. Housing loans are now available at an interest rate of 9.50 per cent onwards, a fax from the bank has said.

LIC decides not to pursue high-return schemes
Thiruvanathapuram: The Life Insurance Corporation of India has taken an internal decision not to persist with high-return-guaranteed plans as these have been found to be unsustainable in a low-interest regime.

ING stake goes above 26% in insurance joint venture
Mumbai: Dutch financial major ING group has exceeded the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) stipulated guideline of 26 per cent foreign holding in its joint venture insurance company ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd.

GTB board to meet on Oct 29
Hyderabad: The board of directors of Global Trust Bank (GTB) is meeting on October 29 at Mumbai to consider and take on record the unaudited financial results of the bank for the second quarter of current fiscal year ended September 30, 2002.

Allahabad Bank plans Rs 100-cr bond issue
Kolkata: Allahabad Bank, the old generation public sector bank, is currently in the process of finalising formalities for a tier-II capital issue to further augment its capital to risk assets ratio (CRAR).

Andhra Bank not averse to taking Centurion'
Hyderabad: Andhra Bank, which is considering a possible merger of Centurion Bank Ltd with itself, is not averse to the idea of amalgamating the bank with itself, despite the apparent weak financials of the latter.

Bill soon to repeal IDBI Act; IFCI package under way
New Delhi: At the meeting held by the Ministry of Finance yesterday regarding IDBI issue, it was decided that IDBI would not need a bail-out. However, IFCI might require a helping hand, but the Government is not yet sure as to what extent that would be.

BECON-2002 to be held in Bangalore
Mangalore: Corporation Bank, under the joint auspices of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), will be hosting the 24th bank economists' conference (BECON-2002) between December 27 and 29 in Bangalore.

Aviva Life unveils group life insurance product for rural poor
Hyderabad: Aviva Life Insurance, a joint venture between Dabur and CGU (a subsidiary of Aviva plc, Britains largest insurance group), has launched a group life insurance product named CreditPlus targeted at the rural poor.

Aviva Life also announced the first sale and tie-up with Basix, a micro-finance institution that provides credit for agriculture and non-farm rural economic activities in 25 districts spread across the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Jharkhand.

Says Aviva Life CEO Stuart Purdy: Under the scheme, the micro-finance institution becomes the master policyholder. The company expects to tap at least 2,500 rural folks in six months, and CreditPlus has initially been launched in Ramayanpet and Suryapet towns of Andhra Pradesh.

CreditPlus provides death cover on a group basis, and in the event of death families of Basix borrowers will receive some financial payment and the outstanding loan will also be cleared. Explaining the strategy, Purdy says Aviva will soon move on to distribution of savings products in rural areas.

Govt to repeal IDBI Act; reform package for IFCI in the offing
New Delhi: The central government says Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) will be first corporatised by repealing the IDBI Act in the winter session of the parliament as part of its restructuring, while a reform package for the ailing Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) will be worked out by March 2003.

The first step will be corporatisation of IDBI through the repeal of the IDBI Act. The idea is, once the IDBI Act is repealed and it becomes a corporate entity, then we can look at the future, says Shekhar Agarwal, joint secretary in the ministry of finance, after a meeting of lenders and stakeholders here.

Agarwal says the plans to merge IDBI with a public sector bank or converting the financial institution (FI) into a universal bank will be taken up only after the corporatisation. We are trying to repeal the IDBI Act by the winter session. There is no proposal to bring in an ordinance as of now. Agarwal rules out a bailout plan for IDBI saying the financial health of the FI is not bad enough to warrant it.

In the first ever meeting of stakeholders and lenders, top officials of finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and General Insurance Corporation also discussed the restructuring plan of IFCI.

Expressing the governments concern over IFCI, Agarwal says: We wanted to talk to lenders and stakeholders and get their perception. We will take everybodys views and work for a proposal for IFCI. May be everybody has to contribute something.

Federal Bank cuts home loan rates at an interest rate of 9.5%
Kochi: Federal Bank has slashed interest rates for its home loans. Housing loans are now available at an interest rate of 9.50 per cent onwards.

Equated monthly instalment at 9.5 per cent for a 60-month tenure works out to Rs 2,097 for a loan amount of Rs 1 lakh and for a 20-year loan at 10.5 per cent it is Rs 993 per lakh.

Federal Bank is charging a processing fee of 0.25 per cent. Loans are available for amounts up to Rs 2 crore and an upper repayment period of 20 years. It has also permitted the borrower to repay until the age of 65 years. The income of the spouse is also considered for sanctioning of the loan.

22 Oct 2002

Uco Bank to infuse over Rs 100-cr Tier-II capital
Kolkata: UCO Bank will infuse over Rs 100-crore Tier-II capital shortly. Another Rs 100 crore is likely to be kept aside as a greenshoe option. This is expected to shore up the bank's capital adequacy ratio (CAR), while increasing its advances by Rs 3,000 crore this year.

J&K Bank To Set Up MF, Scouts For Partner
New Delhi: Jammu & Kashmir Bank has decided to float a mutual fund subsidiary, and is in the process of identifying a foreign strategic partner for the new venture.

ING Vysya Life targets larger customer base
Kolkata: ING Vysya Life Insurance has set an ambitious target to increase its customer base five times by the end of the next calender year, according to the companys deputy managing director & president, Yvo R Metzelaar.

Chola General Insurance kicks off nationwide operations
Chennai: Cholamandalam General Insurance Company Ltd, the insurance arm of the Rs 4,200 crore Murugappa group, has formally launched its all-India operations here on Monday.

ICICI Bank launches Drivesmart
Mumbai: ICICI Bank on Monday announced the launch of drivesmart a credit card package for the fleet owners running goods and passenger transport vehicles.

SBI Life all set to launch maiden Pension Policy
Hyderabad: SBI Life Insurance Company (SBI Life), a joint venture between State Bank and Cardif SA of France, is gearing up to announce the launch of first-ever Pension Policy, according to R Krishnamurthy managing director and CEO of the company.

Banks likely to be freed of statutory requirements
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India is considering a proposal to exempt banks from meeting SLR and CRR requirements for their borrowings through the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL)'s new money market trading platform.

RBI warns against using `e-gold' as currency
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has warned the public that `e-gold' is not a currency of any sovereign state and transactions with it is violative of current regulations in force in India.

Catholic Syrian H1 net up 60 pc
Kochi: The net profit of the Thrissur-based Catholic Syrian Bank has grown by 60 per cent to touch Rs 11.76 crore during the first half of 2002-03, as against Rs 7.34 crore reported for the corresponding period of last year.

United Western net down in Q2
Mumbai: The Satara-based United Western Bank posted a marginally lower net profit of Rs 85 lakh for the second quarter ended September 30, 2002 as compared to Rs 88 lakh for the same period the previous year.

Andhra Bank wants RBI to make good Centurion `erosion'
Hyderabad: The Andhra Bank management has written to RBI stating that prior to a decision on the matter, the central bank should agree to compensate it for the erosion through the Deposit Insurance Credit Guarantee Corporation.

Corpn Bank cuts rates on deposits
Mangalore: Corporation Bank has brought down its rates of interest on term deposits of nearly all maturities with effect from October 21. The interest on deposits in the `maturity band' of 46 to 90 days and 91 to 179 days have been brought down to 5.50 per cent and 5.75 per cent from 6 per cent.

Karnataka Bank to distribute MetLife products
Mangalore: The 79-year-old private sector Karnataka Bank has signed an agreement with MetLife India for distributing insurance products as a `corporate agent', according to Ananthakrishna Chairman and CEO of the bank.

Antony flays nationalised banks for ignoring Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister A K Antony said here that he was hopeful of the Centre considering the state's request to let it raise Rs 500 crore from the market to salvage the Annual Plan. At the same time, Mr Antony lashed out at the nationalised banks for not helping the state government or the development activities in the state.

Antony, who was back from New Delhi after attending a conference of chief ministers, told reporters here that he had raised the issue of 'the neglect of the state by the nationalised banks' at the conference.

The credit-deposit ratio of the banks in the state rose by a meagre 1.5 per cent this year compared to the previous year. The ratio in the State remained one of the lowest in the country as the banks continued to divert huge deposits they received from the state to other parts of the country, he said.

According to Antony, the state was not able to meet the Plan target because of a resource crunch and hence he had asked for Central assistance either as a special package or as permission to mobilise Rs 500 crore from the market. Though the Union finance minister did not give any word regarding the requests, he said he was hopeful of getting permission to raise money from the market.

Antony said that fortunately the state government was now able to meet the expenditure for salary, pension and interest on loans, but it still needed money for development works. Kerala was ready to join the VAT (value-added tax) bandwagon from April 1, 2003, if the Centre could compensate the loss to the state on account of this.

The chief minister said that Kerala did not favour the proposal to freeze the bonus and DA of employees though some other states supported it. His government was not for taking away such benefits from the employees, but there could be delay in the DA disbursal because of financial constraints.

Kerala, along with other states, wanted the Centre to make the Plan size ratio for Central assistance and state's share 50:50 rather than the present 70:30.

The state had supported the NTPC proposal to raise the capacity of the Kayamkulam thermal plant by 1950 MW to 2300 MW using LNG that cost less as fuel. It also met the requirement to set up a Coast Guard Unit by handing over 5.6 acres of land.

The chief minister said that the state had sought assistance of Rs 25 crore as flood relief from the Centre. It also sought 25,000-tonne rice under the Food-for-Work scheme in the Plantation and Adivasi sectors.

21 Oct 2002

Insurance agents to seek redressal on commission
New Delhi: General insurance agents have approached the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) seeking its intervention in ensuring public sector insurance companies paid them their full commission.

Birla Sun lowers rates on high-value term policies
Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance has upped the ante in the ongoing rate war in the term insurance business.

Allahabad Bank mulls expansion in Kerala
Kochi: Allahabad Bank plans to expand its operations in Kerala, adding five more branches in various districts of the State soon.

Corpn Bank opens 2 more ATMs
Mangalore: As part of its endeavour to connect the entire country with an automated teller machine (ATM) network, the Mangalore-based Corporation Bank recently opened two more ATMs here.

Banks moving into PSU papers
Mumbai: Bonds yields continued their downward spiral for the third consecutive week bolstered by foreign currency reserves and weakening inflation. Traders said that some of the key concerns of the markets had now abated.

Andhra Bank cuts FCNR, domestic deposit rates
Hyderabad: Andhra Bank has slashed interest rates on deposits under foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) scheme for the US dollar, UK pound and Euro currency.

GTB slaps notices on defaulters for recovering Rs 100 crore
New Delhi: Taking advantage of the re-promulgated Securitisation Ordinance, Global Trust Bank has slapped notices on 25 defaulters for recovering around Rs 100 crore from them and is evaluating the prospects for distributing insurance products and mutual funds.

Allahabad Bank to expand in Kerala by adding five branches
Kochi: Allahabad Bank plans to expand its operations in Kerala, adding five more branches in various districts of the state soon.

Allahabad Bank assistant general manager N Ramachandran says two branches - one in Edappal and other in Kozhencherry - will be opened during the current fiscal. The bank is expecting administrative clearance from its board to set up three more branches by the end of next fiscal.

The three branches will be at Palakkad, Thrissur and Kottayam, says Ramachandran. He is here in connection with the announcement of the banks initial public offering (IPO) in the state.

The net profit of the bank has increased by over 100 per cent to Rs 80.21 crore from Rs 39.91 crore in 2001-02. The total deposits grew by 12.7 per cent to Rs 22,666 crore from Rs 20,106 crore at the end of the last fiscal.

Ramachandran says the IPO proceeds will also further enhance the banks capital adequacy ratio (CAR). The bank currently has a comfortable CAR of 10.62 per cent as on 31 March 2002 as against the Reserve Bank of India-stipulated norm of 9 per cent. After the IPO, the CAR will further increase to 11.5 per cent.

Syndicate Banks 15 branches to come under e-banking facility
Mumbai: Syndicate Bank says 15 of its branches are now covered by the Syndicate-e-banking facility under the banks centralised banking solution (CBS), which facilitates electronic banking through multiple-delivery channels like ATMs, tele-banking and Internet-banking facilities.

The banks Hampanakatta branch became the 15th branch to have such facilities operationalised when Syndicate Bank chairman and managing director Michael Bastian launched the services at the branch recently.

Syndicate Banks CBS envisages the networking of 200 strategic branches over the next 18 months.