10 may 2003

icicidirect offers bonds online
mumbai: online share trading service icicidirect.com has launched the government of india 6.5 per cent tax-free savings bonds 2003 online on its web site. the service, available on www.icicidirect.com, claims it has 2,40,000 customers. theycan now apply for these government bonds without the need for filling up any application form, said a news release from the company. the transaction is automated while the proceeds are debited from the account of the customer.

canbank mf declares interim
kochi: canbank mutual fund announced a 7.5-per cent interim dividend on canpremium, a debt-oriented balanced scheme, which has a face value of rs 10, under the income plan. the nav of the scheme is rs 12.88 under income plan and rs 13.66 under the growth plan. the debt-based open-ended cancigo scheme has announced an interim dividend of 6.25 per cent. the nav of the scheme is rs 11.11 under the income plan and rs 11.77 under the growth plan as on may 6. the dedicated gilt scheme, cangilt pgs, which has a face value of rs 10, has declared an interim dividend of 3.5 per cent. the nav of the scheme is rs 10.53 under the income plan and rs 16.06 under the growth scheme.

rbi not to intervene in forwards, but will watch
mumbai: the reserve bank of india (rbi) will continue its stance of not intervening directly in the forex forward market, said deputy governor rakesh mohan on the sidelines of a function organised by the bombay chamber of commerce and industry on friday in mumbai. he said the rbi is keeping a close watch on the forward market after the sudden volatility experianced on thursday, but there is no shortage of dollar liquidity in the short-term. "there is no change in our stance. the rates are determined by the market," he said, adding that the rbi preferred less violatility in the market, confirming its stance in the latest monetary and credit policy, which it will continue to hold good. forward premiums on thursday crashed across maturities on heavy selling interests by exporters and corporates. the benchmark six-month annualised forward premium closed sharply at 1.02 per cent with the one-year annualised premium closing lower at 1.15 per cent.

j&k bank sets sights on nasdaq
srinagar: in a bid to generate an annual fee income of rs 15 crore from depository, broking and other equity market facilities, the jammu & kashmir bank is launching margin trading and stock lending. other capital market products in the pipeline include issuing loans against government securities and other debt instruments. "by the end of this year, we intend to emerge as a strong player in the capital market segment providing one-stop solutions to corporate, brokers and clients," jk bank chairman mohammed yousuf khan said. the bank is listed on nse, bse, dse and the ludhiana stock exchange and is planing to jump to nasdaq as well.

rbi hikes non-competitive bid level in g-secs auction
mumbai: the rbi has enhanced the maximum limit a non-competitive bidder can bid in a government securities auction. the maximum limit of the value of a single bid by a non-competitive bidder such as small co-operative banks, rrbs, pfs and trusts has been increased to rs 2 crore in face value, up from rs 1 crore in face value, said a press release from rbi. this in response to requests from investors, said the release. five per cent of the total auction amount is reserved for non-competitive bidders in every auction, but is mostly not fully utilised.

ifci takes over east india assets
new delhi: ifci ltd has taken possession of the assets of the east india symex ltd under the securitisation and reconstruction of financial assets and enforcement of security interest act, 2002. this is the second takeover by the institution close to its recent move to take possession of the baddi unit of arihant industries ltd. ifci said that although east india symex had developed all facilities with the financial assistance from the institution its ad not been paying the dues since april 2000 which amounted to rs 9.24 crore and dues to banks amounted to rs 10.38 crore as on march 31, 2003

indusind bank q4 net down 64 per cent on low treasury income
mumbai: with drop in treasury income, the net profit of indusind bank dropped by 64 per cent for the quarter ended march 31, 2003 to rs 3.66 crore as against rs 10.22 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. however, for the full financial year, the bank posted an over 40 per cent jump in net profit to rs 71.35 crore (rs 50.75 crore). total income for the year went up to rs 988.50 crore from rs 894.43 crore. the board of directors has proposed a dividend of 14 per cent, same as that of the previous year, subject to approval of the shareholders. other income of the bank dropped to rs 59.58 crore in the fourth quarter from rs 96.77 crore. with high volatility in interest rates, treasury income dropped substantially in the fourth quarter, said senior officials of the bank.

9 may 2003

icici bank moves hc on bpcl petition against nocil dues
mumbai: icici bank, the lead lender to national organic chemical industries ltd (nocil), has filed an intervenor's application seeking the high court's permission to allow them to intervene and to hear them during the hearing of the winding up petition filed by bharat petroleum corporation ltd (bpcl) against nocil. bpcl had filed the winding petition against nocil for non-payment of dues of rs 110 crore against the supply of naphtha. the application filed by icici bank, on behalf of all lenders, is yet to be allowed by the high court. lenders, who had already cleared nocil's restructuring proposal, feel that the restructuring should be implemented at the earliest, and that winding up of the company was not the answer.

andhra bank net profit up 84 per cent
hyderabad: andhra bank ltd has reported 83.76 per cent growth in its net profit for the financial year ended march 31, 2003. it has posted a net profit of rs 382.70 crore for the fiscal 2003 as against rs 208.25 crore in the previous year. during the year under review the bank has merged its subsidiary ab housing finance ltd, resulting in the overall profit for the bank. without consolidating the subsidiary results the bank has reported a net profit of rs 402.99 crore. the subsidiary has rs 16 crore npas.
the bank's board, which has met here on thursday to take on record the audited financial results for the year 2002-03, has declared a dividend of 24 per cent for the year ended march 2003 as against 14 per cent declared in the previous year. the share transfer books will be closed from may 27 to june 5 to determine the shareholders for payment of dividend.

hdfc standard life records rs 132 crore premium income
mumbai: hdfc standard life insurance company ltd has recorded a growth of 260 per cent in its premium income from new business at rs 132 crore in '02-03 as compared to rs 36 crore last year. the sum assured for the policy holders crossed the rs 5,000 crore mark and the company extended life insurance coverage to over 1,50,000 lives. business growth had been driven by rising consumer expectations to which the company responded by introducing new insurance solutions, establishing an increased presence across locations, increasing its sales force of trained financial consultants and adding corporate agents to its distribution mix, company cmd deepak satwalekar said. the board has declared third bonus for participating policyholders.

lkb net up 17 per cent in '02-03
kochi: lord krishna bank (lkb) has posted a net profit of rs 23.05 crore during the fiscal ended 2002-03 registering an increase of 16.95 per cent compared to rs 19.71 crore earned during the previous fiscal. deposits increased from rs 1,502 crore to rs 1,663 crore while net advances increased from rs 826 crore to rs 915 crore, according to bank managing director rm nayak.

the bank earned a gross profit of rs 52 crore compared to last year's rs 50.17. the net npa level came down to 6.33 per cent from 9.85 per cent. after the securitisation act, the bank had succeeded in making cash recoveries of rs 38 crore and would raise it to rs 47 crore this year. it had targeted bringing down its npa level to two per cent during the current fiscal, nayak said.

uco bank sets rs 1,00,000 crore business target by 2006-07
kolkata: public sector uco bank on thursday announced that the management has set a target of rs 1,00,000 crore business in the next four years i.e. by financial year 2006-07. a uco bank spokesman said that business has crossed the rs 48,000 crore mark in the financial year ending march 2003. "the bank is aiming towards reaching a total business of rs 59,000 crore by the end of the financial year 2003-04 indicating a business growth of about 22 per cent," he said. the target of rs 1,00,000 crore has been set following the successful completion of the bank's strategic revival plan and the medium term restructuring plan when it added rs 22,000 crore of new business, the spokesman said.

western union plans expansion
new delhi: western union and india post on wednesday celebrated completion of two years of successful association. in the last two years, post offices offering western union services have grown to 4,200 locations. rameshari handa, deputy director-general (financial services) of india post, said, "our association with the company is also contributing to our revenues. during the past two years around $50 million has come in through western union and delivered by india post."

maruti finance sees rs 3,000-cr biz
ahmedabad: maruti udyog ltd (mul) managing director, jagdish khattar, said his company's vehicle finance arm, maruti finance, was set to do business to the tune of rs 3,000 crore in the current fiscal. mr khattar, who was here to launch maruti finance in gujarat, also said the company had no plans whatsoever to slash the price of alto by rs 50,000 as reported in a section of the press on thursday. "we will do rs 3,000 crore in the vehicle finance business this year from maruti customers alone. considering that the total financing of maruti cars today stands at rs 6,500 crore to rs 7,000 crore per annum, we plan to have an all-india network in place quite soon by bringing the remaining few states under the maruti finance umbrella. the company is looking at bringing at least 50 per cent of maruti customers under the finance net in the first full year of operations," he said.

icici lombard bags power plant account
hyderabad: icici lombard general insurance company ltd has announced that it has bagged the account of lanco kondapalli power pvt ltd. in a release, the insurance company said that lanco kondapalli was the biggest combined cycle power plant in the south and was also the largest single premium player in andhra pradesh. this is also one of the biggest accounts where professional services of insurance brokers are utilised by a client to procure the best cover at a minimum costs.

canfin plans mbs for rs 100 cr
bangalore: canfin homes ltd (cfhl), the subsidiary of the public sector canara bank proposes to come with its third round of mortgage-backed securities (mbs) for rs 100 crore. a canfin release said that this was being made in view of the phenomenal success of the earlier two issues. canfin homes has posted an all time high net profit of rs 21.58 crore for the financial year 2002-03, a 9 per cent increase over the previous year. operating profit of cfhl for the year was rs 27.46 crore against rs 25.17 crore in 2001-02. the increase in profitability was despite the reduction in the interest rates on home loans.

hsbc, billjunction pact for online payments
mumbai: hong kong and shanghai banking corporation ltd has tied up with billjunction payments ltd to offer its customers an online utility bill payment facility as part of its net-banking initiatives. the bank's customers can now avail of this service to pay their utility bills such as telephone, electricity, mobile phone bills as well as insurance premium payments by logging on to online@hsbc, said vivek kudva, country head -- personal financial services, addressing a press conference here on thursday.

kpfc to raise rs 300 cr thru bonds issue
thiruvanathapuram: the state-owned kerala power finance corporation ltd (kpfc) has finalised plans to raise rs 300 crore through issue of non-slr bonds backed by government guarantee. kpfc had earlier issued bonds worth rs 200 crore with a tenure of seven years. the issue was over-subscribed ahead of schedule. the reserve bank has upgraded the company to `a' category after assessing various factors such as performance of the company and quality of management, according to m.p. aiyappan, managing director.

sbh cuts plr, deposit rates
hyderabad: state bank of hyderabad (sbh) has cut the interest rates on its domestic term deposits, ranging from 25 basis points to 50 basis points for various tenures. in a press release here, the bank said the new rates would come into effect from may 12.
according to the bank, it would maintain the interest rates on domestic deposits with tenure of 15 days and up to 45 days at 4.5 per cent, for tenure of 46 days and up to 90 days and also for 91 days and up to 179 days at 5.25 per cent.

8 may 2003

diebold buys out hma in jv
mumbai: diebold inc on wednesday said that it had reached an agreement to acquire the remaining 50 per cent equity of diebold hma pvt ltd held by hma data systems pvt ltd. after the acquisition, this joint venture sales and service organisation headquartered in chennai, will become a 100 per cent subsidiary of diebold inc.

idbi '02-03 net down 5 per cent
new delhi: industrial development bank of india (idbi) has posted a net profit of rs 401 crore for 2002-03, a drop of 5 per cent from rs 424 crore of the previous year. the profit before tax, though, saw a spurt of 10 per cent to rs 455 crore. idbi has made a higher provision for npas of rs 1,110 crore against rs 775 crore, chairman pp vora said, after a board meeting to adopt the audited accounts. it also recommended a 15 per cent dividend. vora declared that the fi had successfully concluded its exercise in consolidation and was poised for growth this year onwards. the net profit for the fourth quarter rose 15 per cent to rs 209 crore compared to rs 182 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. however, he refused comment on the possibilities on its corporatisation or merger with its subsidiary idbi bank.

bankmuscat to invest up to rs 75 crore in centurion bank
mumbai: bankmuscat has announced that it would invest up to rs 75 crore in centurion bank as part of the restructuring proposal by the sabre group. the bank also announced that it would merge its bangalore branch with centurion after the recast proposal gets regulatory approvals. "we see substantial opportunities in promoting investment flows, trade and nri services between india, oman and the gulf," bankmuscat's international operations head suleiman shahbal said. bankmuscat india chief executive samit ghosh will hand over the day-to-day management to an interim chief executive under the advice of sabre group, but will continue to represent bankmuscat during the transition until all regulatory approvals are in place, the bank said.

max new york life to pay maiden cash bonus
new delhi: max new york life insurance company has decided on a maiden cash bonus to its whole-life policy-holders. the bonus will be offered to those who bought these covers prior to february 6, 2002, a company press release stated. ceo and managing director anuroop tony singh said in a statement that the bonus would be paid on the policy anniversary date in 2003-04.
customers would be given five ways of exercising their option -- leave the bonus to accumulate with the company and earn interest, buy paid-up additions to raise the death benefit of the base policy, use it to offset against future payable premiums, take the amount in cash or else buy an additional one-year term cover.

hdfc '02-03 profit rises 19 per cent
mumbai: the housing development finance corporation (hdfc) has posted a 19.01 per cent rise in its net profit to rs 690.29 crore for 2002-03 as compared to rs 580.01 crore posted in the preceding fiscal. the hdfc board, took the results on record on wednesday, has recommended a dividend of rs 11 per share. the earnings per share (diluted) (eps) was at rs 30.41 as compared to rs 25.52 for the preceding fiscal. for the fourth quarter ended march 31, 2003, its net profit grew to rs 239.19 crore from rs 206.45 crore in the corresponding period in the preceding fiscal, reflecting a 15.86 per cent growth.

can fin homes to pay 25 per cent
bangalore: can fin homes ltd reported a net profit of rs 21.58 crore for fiscal 2002-03, up 8.93 per cent from rs 19.81 crore a year ago. the board of directors has recommended a 25 per cent dividend payout. the company sanctioned rs 421 crore in the last financial year while disbursements were rs 366 crore. the company plans to float an rs 100-crore mortgage backed securities in near term. the housing finance firm was hopeful of reporting higher profit for the current fiscal tracking a
drastic dip in cost of funds despite the prevailing soft interest regime.

rbi direction on ifr norm
mumbai: the rbi has told banks that while the investment fluctuation reserve (ifr) would continue to be treated as tier ii capital, it would not be subject to the ceiling of 1.25 per cent of the total risk weighted assets. in a circular to all commercial banks, rbi has said, that for the purpose of compliance with the capital adequacy norms, tier ii capital including ifr, would be considered up to a maximum of 100 per cent of total tier i capital, effective from march 31 onwards.

lazard working on funding options for gtb
hyderabad: lazard india, the consultancy firm appointed by global trust bank (gtb), have commenced work on the `funding options' for the bank for which they received a mandate from gtb, according to information available here. the key branches of gtb across the country, mostly in the state capitals have been witnessing increased activity of late, with lazard india representatives busy collecting details of business managed by the respective branches vis-à-vis the credit offtake and deposit
mobilisation potential in these areas.

birla mf ties up with kvb
mumbai: birla sunlife mutual fund has entered into a strategic alliance with karur vysya bank (kvb) for distribution of its products. "in the initial phase, the fund's schemes will be made available to the bank's customers through 40 branches before rolling it out to the rest of its network," said p.t. kuppuswamy, chairman, karur vysya bank, at a press conference held here on wednesday. "in the first year of the alliance, we expect to do business worth around rs 100 crore," mr kuppuswamy said. the bank has around 10 lakh depositors and 2 lakh customers on the advance side, he added.

marginal rise in sbi priority sector loans
mumbai: state bank of india's priority sector advances during the
fiscal year 2002-03 has risen to rs 43,000 crore as compared to rs 41,000 crore in the previous year. however, priority sector loans, as a percentage of net bank credit, has slipped marginally to 40 per cent, from 41.53 per cent in the previous year. bank officials largely ascribe this decline to a large expansion in corporate advances during the year, constituting net bank credit.

orange ties up with banks for prepaid card refill options
mumbai: orange, the cellular service operator of the hutch group for the mumbai circle, on wednesday announced the facility of refilling of prepaid cellular cards through sms or through atms for customers of several banks it has tied up with. chiefly, this allows a mobile subscriber to refill his prepaid balance while roaming and without the inconvenience of having to carry prepaid slips bought from his home circle. orange has tied up with state bank of india, uti bank, idbi bank and citibank. and the facility has been made available through a company called euronet worldwide which provides electronic financial transaction solutions to companies in the us, europe and asia.

7 may 2003

birla sun life premium zooms 385 per cent to rs 170 crore
mumbai: birla sun life insurance co ltd (bsli) has reported a 385 per cent rise in annualised premium at rs 170 crore in 2002-03 powered by the unit-linked plans even as the entity is to infuse further rs 20 crore capital in the current fiscal. "we sold 65,000 individual life policies (16,000 in fy-02) with an annualised premium totalling rs 126 crore," bsli chief executive officer nani javeri told newspersons here on tuesday and added that sales of single premium bond contributed to less than one per cent of total sales. nearly 95 per cent of the company's annualised premium was achieved through sale of unit-linked plans, he said. in fy-04, the company plans to sell 1,80,000 policies with corresponding annualised premium of rs 450 crore. bsli also plans to set up 11 branches in 11 cities in this period, he said.

home loans up despite huge prepayments
mumbai: the credit rating and information services of india ltd (crisil) has said that the housing finance sector comprising housing finance companies (hfc) and banks has managed a real growth rate of 36 per cent in terms of its outstanding portfolio between april and december 2002. "this is despite the high prepayments faced by hfcs during this period. while disbursements grew 54 per cent between april-december 2002, prepayments accounted for a significant 12-14 per cent of outstanding loans for hfcs, resulting in a portfolio growth of 36 per cent. were it not for these prepayments, the portfolio would have grown 43 per cent. the prepayments have been driven by borrowers switching loans from one hfc to another to take advantage of the declining yield curve. this trend has been precipitated largely by the aggressive marketing efforts of lenders," crisil said. crisil has outstanding ratings on 13 hfcs and 22 banks.

ifci's first property seizure is arihant ind eou at baddi
new delhi: ifci ltd has taken over the spinning export oriented unit (eou) of arihant industries ltd in baddi, himachal pradesh, the first property seizure by ifci, officials said. the action was taken under the securitisation & reconstruction of financial assets & enforcement of security interest act (srfa & esia), 2002. according to ifci, arihant industries - promoted by k l jain - had been sanctioned financial assistance by them in the lead, along with other financial institutions (fi) like the industrial development bank of india, uti, sbimf, canbank mutual fund and was also extended interest-free loan by the punjab government. the company has four units engaged in the production of worsted yarn at secunderabad, bulandshahar, up, texturised yarn and grey fabrics and grey and dyed fabrics at ludhiana (two units) and cotton and polyester viscose yarn at baddi.

uti bank '02-03nnet profit rises 43 per cent to rs192.18 crore
mumbai: uti bank on tuesday announced a 43.27 per cent growth in its net profit to rs 192.18 crore for the fiscal 2002-03 as against rs 134.14 crore in the preceding fiscal. the earning per share (diluted) for 2002-03 was at rs 9.97 as compared to rs 9.31 in 2001-02. the board has recommended 22 per cent dividend for the fiscal 2002-03. during the fourth quarter ended march 31, 2003, the bank recorded a 43.91 per cent rise in its net profit to rs 60.53 crore, as compared to rs 42.06 crore in the corresponding period of the fiscal 2001-02.

sundaram home net doubles
chennai: sundaram home finance ltd, a subsidiary of sundaram finance ltd, made a net profit of rs 4.47 crore for the year ended march 31, 2003, compared to rs 2.05 crore in the previous year. the company was able to add 9,000 customers last year.
the company started operations in january 2000. its cumulative sanctions amount to rs 650 crore, made to around 16,000 borrowers. last year, the total sanctions were for rs 356 crore (up 83 per cent) and disbursement rs 237 crore (up 53 per cent).

sbi home fin may cease to exist
mumbai: sbi home finance is being wound up, with the state bank of india (sbi) deciding to take the hit while writing off losses.

the housing company is not a subsidiary of sbi though sbi and sbi caps together hold 25 per cent stake, with hdfc having 15 per cent to its name. lic and other insurance companies hold around 30 per cent, with the rest being held by the public. winding-up details are not yet out even as top officials in sbi confirm the development. around this time last year, sbi home finance had stopped lending operations with efforts focussed on recoveries.

aviva life may cover self-help groups
chennai: lakshmi vilas bank (lvb) proposes to market specially designed products of aviva life insurance to the members of self-help groups (shgs) based in andhra pradesh. lvb, the karur-based scheduled commercial bank, had earlier entered into an alliance with aviva life insurance, a joint venture between dabur group and the uk-based cgu, to market aviva products as a corporate agent with the clearance of the insurance regulatory and development authority. the bank had taken up corporate agency arrangement under the bancassurance model with aviva life with the approval of the reserve bank of india.

indian bank readying for initial offer after july '04
new delhi: well out of the black, public sector indian bank plans an initial public offer (ipo) after july 2004, chairperson and managing director ranjana kumar told newspersons here on tuesday. kumar had earlier made a presentation to the banking division on the restructuring and revival of the bank that was deep in the red till 1999-2000. for the last financial year, it has registered a net profit of rs 189 crore, up 468 per cent. in the three years of restructuring (april 2000-march 2003), the bank clocked a 73.70 per cent growth in deposits to rs 8,362 crore and 87.17 per cent in savings bank deposits to rs 2,641 crore. non-food credit rose 363.95 crore to rs 2,728 crore while investment increased 82.55 per cent to rs 2,792 crore, she said.

icici lombard may double cap base to fund expansion
new delhi: icici lombard general insurance may soon double its capital base to rs 220 crore to fund its expansion plans. it clocked a net profit of rs 3.3 crore net profit in the last fiscal," head of marketing kartik jain said at the launch of an alliance with galileo india here on tuesday. the company logged rs 215 crore premium income in 2002-03 mainly from commercial line of business including fire, engineering, marine and group medical schemes, jain said. it is now turning to retail business in a big way, starting with an individual health insurance scheme. it is eyeing 5-7 per cent of the rs 200-crore travel insurance market in the first year, or about rs 10-15 crore in the first year, he added.

6 may 2003

sbi to get rs 700 crore from harshad shares
new delhi: a few banks, led by the state bank of india, are set to add lustre to their bottomlines, thanks to the realisation of a good part of their outstanding dues from the sale of assets - especially shares of several blue chip companies seized from 'big bull' harshad mehta and a couple of other stock brokers after the 1992 securities scam.the sale of the securities and other assets attached by the special court is being handled by the office of the custodian appointed by the court. the court was set up to dispose of the cases relating to the 1992 securities scam and help banks realise their outstanding dues aggregating to over rs 3,000 crore from the 'big bull' and other brokers, pending for a decade now.

j&k bank2002-03 net rises 30 per cent to rs 338 crore
mumbai: jammu and kashmir bank (j&k bank) has reported a rise of 30.31 per cent in its net profit to rs 337.75 crore for the fiscal 2002-03 as compared to rs 259.80 crore last fiscal. total income has gone up by rs 103.70 crore to rs 1714.56 crore and non-interest income grew by 12 per cent to rs 287 crore during the fiscal, the bank said in a statement on monday. the board on monday recorded the results and proposed a dividend of 60 per cent, subject to approval of shareholders and the reserve bank of india. total aggregate deposits grew by 14 per cent to rs 14,675 crore and advances rose by 25 per cent to rs 8,010 crore in 2002-03.

union bank clocks 76 per cent higher net at rs 553 crore
mumbai: union bank of india has reported a 75.94 per cent growth in its net profit to rs 552.69 crore for the fiscal 2002-03, as against rs 314.13 crore in the preceding fiscal. net profit for the quarter ended march 31, 2003 was at rs 201.84 crore as compared to rs 112.59 crore in the corresponsding period of the preceding fiscal. the bank's earnings per share was at rs 13.95 on a capital base of rs 460.12 crore as against rs 9.29 last fiscal with a capital base of rs 338 crore. capital adequacy ratio (car) as on end-march 2003 was at 12.41 per cent, up from 11.07 at the end of march 2002, post-capital infusion by way of an initial public offering last year.

sundaram finance completes maiden securitisation deal
chennai: chennai-based sundaram finance ltd (sfl), part of the tvs group, has completed its maiden securitisation deal of receivables aggregating rs 50 crore. citibank was the sole structurer and arranger of the issue. the pass-through certificates (ptcs) rated maaa (so) by icra, were placed on private placement basis with mutual fund investors and banks. "the deal was oversubscribed and the ptcs were placed at the lowest yield recorded till date for any such securitisation, thus setting a new pricing benchmark for asset-backed securitisation issuances in india", said varun batra, head-corporate finance and capital markets, citibank india in a statement.

mahindra fin looks beyond m&m
mumbai: mahindra & mahindra financial services ltd (mahindra finance), the finance arm of mahindra & mahindra (m&m), is in talks with maruti and hyundai to act as a preferred financier for their cars in rural areas as part of its plan to finance other manufacturers' products, non-competitive with those of m&m. the company which already enjoys the preferred financier status of hindustan motors and tata engineering (telco) has financed 10,000 cars of other manufacturers like maruti, hyundai and telco, contributing about 15 per cent of company's total disbursement during 2002-03.

canara bank revises floating rates on deposits
bangalore: canara bank has revised the rates on its floating rate deposit scheme. the rates on this scheme are linked to the 91-day treasury bill yield. the new rates are 5.15 per cent for six months to less than one year, 5.20 per cent for one year and 5.25 per cent for two years, according to a canara bank release. these rates take effect from may 1, the release added.
the product which was introduced at the behest of the reserve bank of india is available in 60 branches across the country.

bob reduces lending rates
mumbai: bank of baroda (bob) has cut its prime lending rates by 25 basis points and realigned its deposit rates. the new plr of the bank will be 10.75 per cent per annum. the short-term plr applicable for advances up to 180 days maturity will be 10 per cent per annum and the term plr applicable for loans with maturity of more than one year will be 11.50 per cent per annum, said a press release. the bank has cut interest rates on domestic term deposits. for deposits with a maturity of 1 year to less than 2 years, the new rate is 5.25 per cent, for two years to less than three years, 5.5 per cent and for 3 years and above, 6 per cent.

canara bank board meet
bangalore: the board meeting of the public sector canara bank is to be held on the may 12. a canbank release said here that the board would meet to approve the audited accounts of the bank and declare the dividend for the year-ended march 31, 2003.

nhb can specify debt-equity ratio for hfcs post-buyback
new delhi: national housing bank (nhb), the regulator for housing finance companies (hfcs), has been empowered to specify the post-buyback debt-equity ratio for such companies. this means that private and unlisted housing finance companies resorting to buy back of securities will need to conform to the debt-equity ratio prescribed by nhb and not as stipulated under the companies act, 1956 (i.e., 2:1 debt-equity ratio).

tci puts off merger share allotments
hyderabad: the board of directors of tci finance ltd, which recently obtained approvals from the high court to merge five of its group companies with itself, has decided to adjourn the meeting without taking a decision on allotment of shares to these companies. according to tci finance, the board met here to allot shares to the shareholders of the transferor companies but had to adjourn the meeting in view of non-receipt of certified copy of the court order.

tn co-operative bank staff to stage dharna
chennai: cooperative bank employees in the state have proposed to stage a dharna before valluvar kottam in chennai on tuesday to press their demands, which include provision of a pension scheme and job security.

5 may 2003

bob brand-building to mirror it-savvy business strategy
mumbai: the 95-year old bank of baroda (bob) is going in for a major brand-building exercise to reflect its new technology-enabled business strategy. bob has also decided to outsource the plan. the brand-building exercise is under bob's umbrella plan of converting itself into a technology bank. the bank is in the process to transform and position itself as a modern technology player with international standards. the focus of the exercise will be on the form, shape and colours of the new brand while bob has no immediate plans to change its current logo.

iso certification for union bank training centres
mumbai: union bank of india is expected to get iso 9001-2000 certification for all its seven staff training centres across the country by november this year. in fact, plans are under way to certify an additional 150 of the bank's branches by the end of this fiscal. last month, the bank has received the iso 9001-2000 certification for 64 branches and three extension counters across the country. union bank of india has a total branch network of 2,020. bank officials said, they had some internal criteria for the selection of branches to be certified.

sri visakha bank sets target of rs 1,000 crore
visakhapatnam: sri visakha grameena bank has set the target of touching the rs 1,000-crore mark (rs 576 crore in deposits and rs 424 crore in advances) by the end of current financial year, the bank chairman, m.v.r. sainath rao, has said. at a press meet here on saturday, he said the bank would focus on linking all self-help groups by financing rs 29 crore and reducing the net non-performing assets (npa) by rs 2 crore despite the severe drought conditions.

andhra bank spl counters to replace notes
hyderabad: andhra bank, the hyderabad-based public sector bank, has announced that it has decided to open special counters, jointly with the reserve bank of india, to exchange soiled/ defective notes and also to distribute coins. in a press release here, the bank said these counters would be open from may 5, 2003 to may 16, 2003 and would operate through mobile vans stationed at five main places in the twin cities of hyderabad and secunderabad daily from 10 am till 2 pm during this period.

rbi warns 2 public sector banks to clean note policy
mumbai: the reserve bank of india has threatened to cancel the currency chests of two public sector banks if they fail to follow its directives on `clean note policy.' according to a senior rbi official, surprise inspections conducted by the rbi revealed that these banks were not adhering to its directives prohibiting stapling of currency notes. these banks were put on notice, rbi officials said.
the rbi had prohibited stapling of currency notes and also issuing soiled notes to public under section 35 of the banking regulation act.

indian bank net zooms to rs 188.8 crore
chennai: indian bank has reported a net profit of rs 188.83 crore for the year ended 2002-03, against rs 33.22 crore for the previous year - a nearly six-fold increase. the bank's operating profit also increased to rs 590 crore, compared to rs 307 crore in 2001-02 - an increase of 92.17 per cent.

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