26 apr 2003

icici bank '02-03 profit at rs 1,152 crore
mumbai: icici bank, the country's second largest commercial bank, has recorded a net profit of rs 337.05 crore for the fourth quarter ended march 31, 2003. for the full fiscal of 2002-03, it has posted a net profit of rs 1,152 crore.

sicom plans fresh hiring under restructuring plan
mumbai: the mumbai-based non banking financial company, sicom ltd under its restructuring plan proposes to appoint new executives for managing its operations in information technology, advisory services, human resource development, treasury and risk management

dhanalakshmi bank to network branches soon
kochi: the thrissur-based dhanalakshmi bank will finalise the `core banking solutions' vendor within the next 15 days. in another four months, the bank would have a few major branches linked up.

union bank's e-payment facility
mumbai: union bank of india has launched `union billpay', an online utility bill payment service for its customers in association with billdesk.

csb net up by 21 pc
kochi: the thrissur-based catholic syrian bank's net profit has grown by 21 per cent to touch rs 45.16 crore for the year 2002-2003 against rs 37.12 crore for the previous year.

sharp fall in lic first premiums
mumbai: life insurance corporation of india has recorded a sharp fall in first premium income in 2002-2003 at rs 9,688.87 crore compared to rs 14,800 crore in the previous year.

icici bank: dividend declaration `eye-catching'
mumbai: icici bank's treasury gains for the quarter were down to rs 17 crore from rs 180 crore in the previous quarter. however, the fall in operating profits was restricted to rs 108 crore. this was possible because cost of deposits declined to 6.2 per cent from 6.7 per cent in the previous quarter.

icici bank tops in retail finance
mumbai: icici bank on friday said it has gained leadership in retail finance with a market share of 29 per cent.

banking operations in bengal hit
kolkata: normal banking operation remained suspended in west bengal on friday as bank employees observed one-day's token strike all over the state responding to the call given by the bengal provincial bank employees association (bpbea), affiliated to all india bank employees association.

global reinsurers halve commissions
bangalore: global reinsurers have now begun exerting pressure on domestic general insurance companies and virtually halved the commissions.

25 apr 2003

more entities allowed in interest rate derivatives
mumbai: the reserve bank of india on thursday said it would allow scheduled commercial banks, primary dealers and all india financial instititions to deal in interest rate derivatives on domestic exchanges in a phased manner to enable them to hedge interest rate risks in their underlying government securities portfolio.

banks wary of ecb prepayment loans
mumbai: banks already have large direct exposures to fis through subscription of bonds and provision of support in the form of credit lines. consequently, refinancing ecbs supported by guarantees would mean an increase in their respective exposures, sources said.

stanchart, bpcl launch co-branded debit card
mumbai: standard chartered bank and bharat petroleum corporation ltd. on thursday, launched a globally valid, co-branded debit card called smartfill. this is the second co-branded debit card to be launched within a week by foreign banks and their alliances.

panel for cap on slr investments in banks
new delhi: the parliamentary standing committee has recommended a cap on maximum investments that banks should be allowed to make under the statutory liquidity ratio norms.

crisil, fitch give 'aaa' for hll's bonus debentures
mumbai: hindustan lever ltd has got highest safety ratings 'aaa' for its rs 1,321 crore secured bonus debenture issue from the credit rating information services of india and fitch ratings india.

shrachi securities gets dutch credit
kolkata: shrachi securities ltd has secured lines of credit from two dutch financial institutions, fmo and triodos bank. the kolkata-based financial services company proposes to use the overseas credit facilities to shore up its fund base.

irda chief opposes regulator for pensions
new delhi: the chairman of insurance regulatory and development authority (irda), n. rangachary, has strongly opposed the government's move to create a separate regulatory body for pensions.

andhra bank gets nod for merger
hyderabad: andhra bank, the hyderabad-based premier public sector bank, has received approvals from the andhra pradesh high court to merge with itself andhra bank housing finance ltd (abhfl).

rbi allows hedging interest rate risks
mumbai: the reserve bank of india has allowed commercial banks, primary dealers and all india financial institutions to trade in interest rate derivatives in a phased manner.

bengal banks to strike today on stanchart issue
kolkata: normal banking operation in over 3,300 branches in west bengal is likely to be affected on friday as the bengal provincial bank employees association (bpbea), an affiliate of all india bank employees association (aibea),has given a call for 24-hour statewide strike to protest "the anti-employee policies" of the standard chartered bank.

stanchart eyes distressed assets
mumbai: standard chartered bank, the largest foreign bank in the country, is keen to buy distressed assets to turnaround, sell or to add to its own asset book.

sabre will retain centurion name & staff
mumbai: sabre capital group, which is taking over the management of centurion bank, has no plans to retrench any staff. on the other hand, the bank will be recruiting more people.

ap co-op bank victims up in arms
hyderabad: hundreds of victims of several `crisis ridden' co-operative banks in andhra pradesh have threatened to take legal recourse against the state government,has given a call for 24-hour statewide strike to protest "the anti-employee policies" of the standard chartered bank.

24 apr 2003

sbi prepares groundwork for pension funds business
new delhi: the country's biggest public sector commercial bank, state bank of india, has started the groundwork for setting up the infrastructure for pension funds business.

pension authority likely in 2 months, says adsul
new delhi: the government hopes to set up a pension regulatory authority within the next two months. "we are according it top priority," minister of state for finance anandrao adsul said here on monday.

lic to continue some of guaranteed return schemes
mumbai: despite a drastic fall in the interest rate and a fluctuating stock market, the rs 2,30,000-crore life insurance corporation of india will continue to offer guaranteed return on some of its schemes.

reliance capital q4 profit up
mumbai: relaince capital has registered a marginal rise in net profit at rs 26.99 crore in the quarter ended march 31, 2003 against rs 25.75 crore in the corresponding period last year. the board of directors has recommended a dividend of rs 2.90 per cent.

canara bank farm apprisals
bangalore: the agricultural consultancy services of canara bank have appraised 51 projects for rs 100 crore in the last financial year.

it's wait and watch on govt securities market
mumbai: the government securities market is expected to remain lacklustre at least for the next one week till the announcement of the credit policy on april 29. at the start of the new fiscal year there was an initial softening of yields.

banks, fis seek rejig of state guaranteed debt - conversion to development loans favoured
mumbai: public sector banks and financial institutions (fis) have sought a complete restructuring and rescheduling of state government guaranteed securities in a bid to reduce the risk of defaults.

ia launches debit card with abn-amro
mumbai: sunil arora, chairman and managing director of indian airlines, on monday launched the airline's co-branded debit card with abn-amro bank and mastercard international.

23 apr 2003

pvt banks, insurers turn aggressive sellers
mumbai: bond markets remained subdued last week partly due to the large-scale profit-taking and sales by some of the large private sector banks.the ten-year yield to maturity (ytm), however, firmed to 5.87 per cent last week from the earlier week-end's 5.89 per cent. throughout the week, traders said that there was some large scale selling by some of the banks and private insurance companies to meet their liquidity needs

idbi, bank merger ruled out
mumbai: in what is likely to put a swift end to a family tussle, the government has decided against pressing for a merger of industrial development bank of india (idbi) with its sibling, idbi bank ltd.

22 apr 2003

sbi prepares groundwork for pension funds business
new delhi: the country's biggest public sector commercial bank, state bank of india, has started the groundwork for setting up the infrastructure for pension funds business.

pension authority likely in 2 months, says adsul
new delhi: the government hopes to set up a pension regulatory authority within the next two months. "we are according it top priority," minister of state for finance anandrao adsul said here on monday.

lic to continue some of guaranteed return schemes
mumbai: despite a drastic fall in the interest rate and a fluctuating stock market, the rs 2,30,000-crore life insurance corporation of india will continue to offer guaranteed return on some of its schemes.

reliance capital q4 profit up
mumbai: relaince capital has registered a marginal rise in net profit at rs 26.99 crore in the quarter ended march 31, 2003 against rs 25.75 crore in the corresponding period last year. the board of directors has recommended a dividend of rs 2.90 per cent.

canara bank farm apprisals
bangalore: the agricultural consultancy services of canara bank have appraised 51 projects for rs 100 crore in the last financial year.

it's wait and watch on govt securities market
mumbai: the government securities market is expected to remain lacklustre at least for the next one week till the announcement of the credit policy on april 29. at the start of the new fiscal year there was an initial softening of yields.

banks, fis seek rejig of state guaranteed debt - conversion to development loans favoured
mumbai: public sector banks and financial institutions (fis) have sought a complete restructuring and rescheduling of state government guaranteed securities in a bid to reduce the risk of defaults.

ia launches debit card with abn-amro
mumbai: sunil arora, chairman and managing director of indian airlines, on monday launched the airline's co-branded debit card with abn-amro bank and mastercard international.

21 apr 2003

pvt banks, insurers turn aggressive sellers
mumbai: bond markets remained subdued last week partly due to the large-scale profit-taking and sales by some of the large private sector banks.the ten-year yield to maturity (ytm), however, firmed to 5.87 per cent last week from the earlier week-end's 5.89 per cent. throughout the week, traders said that there was some large scale selling by some of the banks and private insurance companies to meet their liquidity needs

idbi, bank merger ruled out
mumbai: in what is likely to put a swift end to a family tussle, the government has decided against pressing for a merger of industrial development bank of india (idbi) with its sibling, idbi bank ltd.

list of reports on finance diary