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.