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17 may 2003
bajaj
allianz opens second office in j&k
mumbai: bajaj allianz general insurance company
ltd has opened its second office in jammu & kashmir,
in association with the jammu & kashmir bank, located
at the latter's corporate head quarters. since the time
the bank tied up with the insurance company for bancassurance,
the business generated has increased to more than rs 5
crore involving a sale of over 17,000 policies. with the
setting up of this branch , the bank expects to generate
over rs 10 crore in the current year, said a press release
quoting m.y. khan, chairman, j&k bank. bajaj allianz
is the first private general insurance company to have
offices in the state at jammu and srinagar. the two branches
would be networked with the head office and thus would
be able to issue policies on-line and other web-enabled
operations, said the release quoting sam ghosh, ceo, bajaj
allianz general insurance company.
om kotak to focus new policy only in 6 cities
kolkata: om kotak mahindra life insurance company
ltd will focus its recently launched policy, kotak safe
investment plan (ksip), only in six major cities. the
managing director of om kotak life insurance, shivaji
dam, announced this at a press conference after launching
the product here. he said the product is designed in such
a manner that it meets the demands of an urban resident
rather than a rural individual. ksip is a market-linked
insurance plan that offers to invest in capital market
and gain market-linked returns. however, it offers safety
against the fluctuations of an equity market. the premiums
paid by a policyholder is converted into units and invested
in any one or a combination of four managed funds.
nbfcs seek powers under securitisation act
new delhi: it is now the turn of non-banking financial
companies (nbfcs) to knock at the doors of officialdom
for greater empowerment. after co-operative banks got
themselves listed under the securitisation act, the nbfc
sector has recently moved the ministry of finance seeking
powers under the legislation to enable them to wield the
stick against defaulters. the securitisation act provides
enormous powers to the lenders to recover non-performing
assets (npas) from chronic defaulters allowing them to
seize and auction the assets of borrowers unwilling to
come for settlement or to change the management of the
defaulting companies.
nmc unveils tax-free bonds to execute drainage projects
mumbai: the nashik municipal corporation (nmc)
is mobilising rs 50 crore through aa rated tax-free bond
issue at 7.5 per cent coupon rate payable half yearly
which effectively translates to a 11.75 per cent pre tax
returns. nmc proposes to use proceeds for carrying out
infrastructure projects including storm water drainage
system phase-i and underground sewerage scheme phase-ii
for the nashik city. the centrum finance is the sole arranger
for this bond issue. banking sources said on friday that
so far rs 20 crore have already been mobilised from banks
and insurance companies. nmc is the first of the total
13 municipal corporations in the state to have taken the
cue from the centre's tax free status being given to municipal
bonds.
s&p may downgrade more debt ratings
new delhi: standard & poor's (s&p) has
warned of further downgrading of debt ratings in the high
technology, insurance, media/entertainment, consumer products
and retailing sectors. however, s&p's rating services
said on thursday, in absolute terms the number of "fallen
angels" may be lower than the record high reached
in 2002. the number of "fallen angels" or debt
issuers downgraded to speculative ('bb+' and below) from
investment grade ('bbb-' and above) has increased each
year since 1996, peaking in 2002 amid widespread credit
deterioration, combined with anxiety about corporate scandal
and accounting impropriety. s&p's pointed out that
while the cumulative number of fallen angels recorded
year to date indicates that 2003 is approximately running
apace with last year, the par value affected by these
downgrades has shrunk sizably.
rural co-op banks may get adb recap
kolkata: some of the rural co-operative banks may
get recapitalised by the asian development bank (adb).
this was indicated by y.c. nanda, chairman of the national
bank for agriculture and rural development (nabard), here.
nanda said that discussions were on with adb on the issue
of fund flow to the indian rural co-operative banking
sector. he said some of the rural co-operative banks were
under-capitalised and needed to be recapitalised for their
survival. the nabard chairman clarified that the apex
refinancing bank for the rural credit did not need any
recapitalisation. currently, it has a paid-up capital
of rs 2,000 crore and an authorised capital of rs 5,000
crore.
federal bank posts rs 105-cr net
kochi: the net profit of the aluva-based federal
bank has crossed the rs 100 crore mark in the last fiscal
to touch rs 105 crore, recording a growth of 28 per cent.
the bank, which has been in a high growth trajectory over
the past few years, has crossed several important landmarks
during the year, k.p. padmakumar, chairman of the bank
said at a press meet here on friday. "we have reached
several important yardstick of good financial performance
and are in a position to aim for still more aggressive
and ambitious growth in the years ahead," he added.
the bank's focus on reduction of npa level has yielded
good results with its gross npa levels falling from rs
638 crore to rs 528 crore. the net npa levels declined
from rs 445 crore to rs 307 crore thus taking it to 4.95
per cent from 8.60 per cent in the previous fiscal. "our
aim is to bring down the npa level to 3 per cent next
year," he said.
ing vysya net up 26 per cent; to pay 40 pc
mumbai: ing vysya bank has logged a net profit
of rs 86.35 crore for the financial year 2002-03, up from
rs 68.75 crore last year, a growth of 26 per cent. the
board has recommended a dividend of 40 per cent for the
year ended march 2003 (results in a payout of rs 4.51
per share including the dividend tax), as against 35 per
cent in the previous year. according to a press release,
the bank's interest spread went up to rs 216.93 crore,
up from rs.182.91 crore last year. for the same period,
non-interest income rose from rs 280.59 crore to rs 358.33
crore, an increase of 28 per cent.
cashtech implements cashin for andhra bank
coimbatore: cashtech solutions india pvt. ltd has
implemented its cash management product - cashin for andhra
bank. according to company sources, this product would
enable andhra bank provide its corporate clients with
a host of value-added cash management services by ensuring
speedy and efficient collection of their receivables from
all over the country. the founder director of cashtech,
r.n. iyer, said: "besides reducing paper work, the
product would help the bank in having greater control
over the money."
sbi to bundle mfs with insurance
kolkata: the state bank of india group is finally
bundling its mutual funds with insurance, courtesy a proposal
mooted by sbi funds management, which has as its usp a
cover structured by sbi life insurance. the proposal,
magnum income plus, will provide group life insurance
for all investors between 20 and 54 years of age, nris
included. the sum assured in each case will be the amount
of investment, subject to a maximum of rs 2 lakh. the
proposal has been recently sent to sebi for clearance,
said n. sethuram iyer, chief investment officer at sbi
mutual fund. the insurance cover should help the fund
attract investors in larger numbers, he added.
16 may 2003
lvb
to up tier-ii capital by rs 50 cr
chennai: karur-based the lakshmi vilas bank ltd
(lvb) is planning to raise its tier- ii capital by adding
another rs 50 crore. the bank is currently in talks with
various merchant bankers for arranging the issue. the
issue is slated to open sometime in june.
the
bank has posted a net profit of rs 34.16 crore during
the year-ended march 2003, as against the previous year's
performance of rs 30.22 crore. total income was rs 355.21
crore (rs 357.47 crore). business volume of the bank has
gone up to rs 4,610 crore. deposits rose to rs 2,770 crore
while advances increased to rs 1,841 crore. the bank is
targeting a business volume of rs 5,200 crore during the
current fiscal. deposits should be rs 3,150 crore while
advances should be rs 2,100 crore."
syndicate bank net up 37 per cent, to pay 15 per cent
dividend
bangalore: manipal-headquartered syndicate bank
has posted a net profit of rs 344.13 crore in fy03 registering
a growth of 37.35 per cent as against rs 250.55 crore
in fy02. the operating profit of the bank has shown an
increase of 74.19 per cent to touch rs 618.79 crore as
against rs 355.24 crore in the previous period. the bank
has declared a dividend of 15 per cent for fy03.
addressing
a press conference here, syndicate bank chairman michael
bastian said the bank is targeting a 20 per cent growth
in business in the current fiscal. mr bastian also said
that the bank has got the permission to raise rs 100 crore
tier-ii capital and it plans to pay back rs 100 crore
to the government by bringing down the government stake
in the bank to around 65 per cent. the pay-back is likely
to take place in june.
oriental bank revises interest rates, margins on ssi advances
hyderabad: intended at giving a filling to small-scale
industrial (ssi) units, oriental bank of commerce, the
new delhi-based premier public sector bank, has announced
revision in interest rates and margins on advances to
ssi sector. in a press release here, the bank said the
ssi accounts with credit limits above rs 2 lakh and up
to rs 25 lakh would now be charged plr rate of 11 per
cent only as against the earlier rate of plr plus two
per cent. according to the bank, the interest rate for
ssi borrower with credit limits of above rs 25 lakh and
up to rs 50 lakh was also brought down by 50 basis points
to 13 per cent from 13.5 per cent.
andhra bank cuts deposit rates
hyderabad: andhra bank has announced a 50 basis
points reduction across the board in the interest paid
on domestic and nre term deposits. the new rates would
come into effect from may 19. while the rate on domestic
term deposits of 15 days to 45 days has now come down
to 3.75 per cent from
4.25 per cent, the rates have been pruned down on deposits
of 46 days to 179 days at 4.75 per cent (5.25 per cent),
180 days to 364 days at 5.25 per cent (5.75 per cent),
one year to less than three years at 5.75 per cent (6.25
per cent) and for deposits of three years and above at
six per cent (6.5 per cent).
`aaa' rating for tata sons' rs 75-cr ncd issue
mumbai: crisil has assigned `aaa' rating to tata
sons ltd's rs 75-crore non-convertible debenture issue.
the ratings continue to reflect tata sons' leading business
position in the indian software industry as well as its
significant financial flexibility arising from its status
as the principal holding company of the large and diversified
tata group. crisil has also reaffirmed the existing ratings
of its rs 1,750-crore worth non-convertible debenture
issues, fixed deposit programme and rs 150-crore commercial
paper programme.
15 may 2003
peerless
general gets rbi stamp
kolkata: the reserve bank of india (rbi) has granted
a registration certificate to peerless general finance
& investment co ltd, the country's largest residuary
non-banking company (rnbc). peerless thus becomes one
of the few deposit-taking non-banking companies to have
passed the stringent norms set by the rbi way back in
1996 with a 2003 deadline. "we have net-owned funds
(nof) in excess of rs 200 crore," peerless' chairman
dn ghosh said on tuesday at the launch of a new product.
he said peerless had not only met the rbi's nof target
of rs 25 lakh long ago, but now it has fulfiled the promises
it had made in its 1997 plan.
lic eastern zone tops national charts
kolkata: eastern india continues to be a goldmine
for life insurance corporation (lic), with its zonal office
here topping the national charts in number of policies
sold, sum assured and first premium income (fpi). lic
zonal manager, east, mr rk misra, said his zone accounted
for a total sum assured of rs 37,247 crore for the year
to march 31, 2003, against rs 38,667 crore the previous
year. the number of policies sold added up to 62,47,000,
with a record 17,75,000 being sold in march alone.
lic plans lower-rate credit card
kolkata: lic is negotiating an interest rate of
12 per cent per annum for a co-branded credit card it
plans to offer to select policy-holders. currently, lic
is in talks with credit card associations. current card
interest rates range from 34 to 44 per cent per annum.
credit card issuers highlight their "low" rates
of 2.95 per cent, without specifying that these are monthly
figures compounded into annual rates.
moody's retains negative view of american insurance sector
new delhi: eight months after it lowered the outlook
for the us insurance industry from "stable"
to "negative", moody's investors service has
maintained the outlook at the same level. it has cited
negative trends such as a weak economy, down equity markets
and significant credit losses in insurers' fixed income
portfolios. the rating agency said in new york on tuesday
that the persistence of these negative credit trends will
put increased strain on the industry's earnings and capital
formation until at least sometime in 2004.
icici lombard to cover medicinal plant cultivation
hyderabad: in a bid to cover the risks involved
in the booming medicinal plants cultivation, icici lombard
general insurance company ltd (icici lombard) has come
out with a policy offering 'planting material input policy'
covering losses due to various natural and pest attacks.
"we find the export potential for the medicinal plants
the world over accordingly we want to encourage the farmers
by offering risk cover," kartik jain, head, marketing
and retail, icici lombard told the media here on wednesday.
initially, the company offers the policy for the farmers
cultivating 'safed musli' (chlorophytum biovirilianum),
which is a basic ingredient in preparation of chyavanprash.
gradually, it proposes to extend a similar policy to all
other medicinal plants identified by the medicinal plants
board, jain said. further to monitor the farming activity,
icici lombard has entered into an alliance with hyderabad-based
nandan agro farms, which is engaged as consulting agency
for the farmers in medicinal plan cultivation.
oriental bank credit card this month
bhubaneswar: the oriental bank of commerce is all
set to enter the market with its credit card this month.
"in the next few weeks, the bank's credit cards would
be in the market," executive director vk chopra said.
though the date is not yet finalised, it would be within
the next 15 to 20 days, he said. the board of directors
would take a decision on this in its meeting on monday.
once the board approves, the card business would be launched
all over the country. the bank has a tie up with master
card for the card business.
corpn bank 2002-03 net rises 35 per cent to rs 416 crore
mumbai: corporation bank has recorded a growth
of 35 per cent in its net profit at rs 415.99 crore for
2002-03 as compared to rs 308.10 crore in the previous
fiscal with a handsome growth in income from treasury
operations and fee-based activities. total income for
2002-03 grew by 13.20 per cent to rs 2,634.26 crore (rs
2,327.63 crore) and total interest income increased by
8.1 per cent to rs 2,102.52 crore. for the fourth quarter
of 2002-03, the net profit posted a marginal rise at rs
47.28 crore compared to rs 45.39 crore in the corresponding
quarter last fiscal. total income for the quarter rose
to rs 656.94 crore (rs 583.45 crore), the bank's chairman
and managing director k cherian varghese, said on wednesday.
the board has recommended a dividend of 45 per cent as
against 40 per cent for the year 2001-02. the bank will
continue its emphasis on low-cost retail deposits, varghese
said adding that the cost of deposits of the bank has
come down to 6.7 per cent from 7.6 per cent.
co-op bank victims appeal to ap governor
hyderabad: the victims of crisis-ridden co-operative
banks in the state on wednesday appealed to surjit singh
barnala, the governor, to see to it that their interests
were protected. c.c. reddy, the founder-trustee of visu
trust, met the governor on behalf of the victims and appraised
him about the situation. visu trust is representing the
victims and agreed to bear the expenses to fight a legal
battle.
idbi bank sees assets on books growing 148 pc
bangalore: idbi bank ltd plans to grow its retail
assets on books to rs 4,000 crore in the current fiscal,
up 148.75 per cent from rs 1,608 crore a year ago, s.
kumar, head-retail assets, said. the growth is likely
to be powered by new product offerings and tapping of
newer markets in tier-ii cities. majority of the growth
would be triggered through housing advances. close to
90 per cent of rs 1,608 crore was through housing finance
and such advances are likely to account for 75 per cent
of the retail assets for the current year, he said. close
to 32 per cent of the bank's book was accounted for by
retail assets in the last financial year.
bank of india hikes deposit rates
mumbai: bank of india has decided to increase the
interest rate on short-term deposits by 50 basis points.
the change in the rates in the maturity buckets of `7-14
days' and `15-45 days' will be effective may 20, a press
release from the bank said. for deposits with maturity
between 7-14 days, the interest rate has been increased
to 4.50 per cent (4 pc) per annum and for deposits with
maturity between 15-45 days, the interest rate has been
upped to 4.75 per cent (4.25 pc).
icra in talks with arab cos for services
new delhi: after assigning its first international
rating along with the kuwait-based credit rating &
collection company (crc), the icra on wednesday said that
it was in talks with other arab nations for extending
its technical expertise. it is also open to picking up
stakes in rating agencies in those countries that allow
foreign participation. p.k. choudhury, managing director,
told presspersons that the rating agency was in advanced
stage of negotiations with the sultanate of oman and was
talking to a couple of other countries as well for offering
advisory and rating services.
amp sanmar's gambit paying off
chennai: the rs 8.5-crore (annualised) premium
that amp sanmar life insurance company earned in the year
2002-03 may have fallen short of the company's internal
target (of rs 15 crore) for the year. but, the performance
conformed to the business plan submitted to the insurance
regulatory and development authority (irda), along with
the application for the licence, the company's vice-chairman,
sankara v. mony, said here on tuesday. the company sold
over 16,000 policies, covering around 25,000 lives, involving
a total sum assured of rs 120 crore.
hdfc business up 30 per cent in gulf region
abu dhabi: hdfc registered a 30 per cent growth
in business in the uae and gulf region in the 2002-2003
fiscal and plans are on to tie up with a service associate
in abu dhabi shortly to extend its reach in the emirate.
k. bharadwaj, branch manager of hdfc's dubai office,said
that lower interest rates and growing confidence in indian
real estate developers had resulted in increased number
of loan applications and disbursals in the fiscal gone
by.
irda devises `simple' pension plan
hyderabad: aimed at providing a plan with a uniform
technical structure, the insurance regulatory and development
authority (irda) has devised what it calls a simple, standard
pension plan for all life insurance companies to offer
to the public, following the recommendations submitted
by the shinkar committee. according to irda, "the
presence of such a plan in the market would increase the
general awareness of the public towards pension savings
and act as an entry-level product into this vital area
of investment that each indian investor should be considering
for himself or herself."
14 may 2003
indusind
gold trading from july
mumbai: in an attempt to generate another form
of non-interest income, indusind bank plans to venture
into bullion trading starting july 1, across nine centres
in the country. "we aim to capture 15-20 per cent
of the rs 25,000-crore gold import market within the first
year of operations. we should thereby generate about rs
6-7 crore as commission through this business,'' said
a senior official in the bank. having received the reserve
bank of india permission for bullion trading in november
2002, the bank is to start trading in the yellow metal
in mumbai, delhi, ahmedabad, kolkata, jaipur, bangalore,
hyderabad, chennai and coimbatore by july.
canara bank plans 3 more branches in chennai
chennai: canara bank will shortly open three more
branches here - at santhome, tiruvallur and one `all women
branch'. the location of the `mahila' branch is yet to
be decided. "we have the licence for opening a branch
anywhere in chennai. we have called for bids for premises,"
the bank officials told presspersons here on tuesday.
further, the bank proposed to open around 10 extension
counters in the city. also under plan, was a `depository
participant' operation from the habibullah road branch,
they said.
hsbc to open global software centre in pune
pune: hong kong and shanghai banking corporation
ltd (hsbc) is all set to inaugurate its global software
development centre in the city towards the end of this
month. the bank's chief information officer, ashok bhatia,
said here that the new centre, set up at a cost of rs
100 crore, would develop software for the group's global
operations. in addition, he said, the facility had provision
to expand to keep pace with future requirements
bank of rajasthan submits case details to rbi
mumbai: bank of rajasthan on tuesday submitted
to the reserve bank of india details of the case that
led to the arrest of its chairman, praveen kumar tayal,
in jaipur on saturday. dr k.m. bhattacharya, managing
director of the bank, said the rbi had asked for details
of the case, though the case was unrelated to the activities
of the bank. he said, "since there is no conviction,
tayal's chairmanship has not been questioned." "the
rbi has offered full support in case there is any untoward
rush for cash.''
om kotak launches new insurance plan
bangalore: om kotak mahindra life has launched
an investment-cum-protection plan - the kotak safe investment
plan -- that offers safety of capital while permitting
the policyholder to benefit from investment opportunities
in the equity, debt and money markets.
according
to ashutosh bishnoi, vice-president, marketing, the unit-linked
insurance plan is unique in that the various funds give
the policyholder access to growth markets while the plan
guarantees the sum assured - on maturity or death - regardless
of the performance of the funds. "this thirteenth
product from the life insurer offers complete flexibility
in choosing the various funds in different proportions,
in switching between funds, surrendering policy (after
a minimum of three years) or obtain loans,'' bishnoi said.
andhra bank unveils slew of tech services
hyderabad: andhra bank has unveiled four technology-driven
services - visa electronic card (an atm-cum-debit card),
e-seva services through atm network for the citizens to
pay their utility bills, e-hundi services enabling devotees
to make monetary offerings to lord balaji at tirupati,
and cashtrack, a premium cash management service for corporate
customers. announcing the launch of these new services,
the andhra bank chairman and managing director, dr b.
vasanthan, said that the andhra bank visa electronic debit
card would be accepted at around 50,000 merchant outlets
in the country and millions worldwide. it carries lost
card insurance to the tune of rs 10 lakh and accident
insurance coverage of rs 1 lakh.
brokers to meet irda chief to discuss notification
new delhi: insurance brokers will be meeting the
irda chairman, n. rangachary, in delhi later this week,
to discuss contentious issues on brokerages and business,
thrown up in the notification issued by the regulator
in march this year. brokers are peeved that as per the
new guidelines, not only is their brokerage substantially
reduced, but they have also been banned from all government
and public sector business. in fact, some are understood
to be weighing their options about staying in the business,
and a few are also contemplating surrendering their licenses,
an insurance broker said.
south indian bank to launch global debit card soon
bangalore: the private sector south indian bank
ltd (sibl) proposes to launch its global debit card shortly
once it signs the memorandum of understanding with the
service providers. a. sethumadhavan, chairman of the bank,
addressing a press conference here, said that the negotiations
were in advanced status. he, however, declined to reveal
the name of the service provider. the bank also simultaneously
planned to complete setting up 100 automatic teller machines
before the end of the current year. by this month-end
alone, the bank proposed to set up 50 atms, he said. the
bank, he said has already invested rs 40 crore for technology
upgradation.
rbi shortlists 8 banks for rbs
mumbai: a clutch of eight banks are on the reserve
bank of india's (rbi) radar for the first round of risk-based
supervision (rbs). "the idea seems to be to start
with these select players to get a first hand undestanding
of their internal risk systems. these could then even
be implemented by others who are yet to have such internal
systems," a source said. among the names of banks
doing the rounds are idbi bank, bank of america and punjab
national bank. sources indicate that the profile of the
eight banks or so on the list runs along these lines -
two state-run, two foreign, one new generation and an
old private bank, and another two banks. the rbi in its
monetary and credit policy for 2003-2004 has already said
that it proposes to implment rbs of a few select banks
on a pilot-basis during april-june 2003.
pricing of idbi bank rights issue expected to be low
mumbai: the board of idbi bank will meet on may
19 to consider a rights issue of its equity shares. the
main points to be discussed during the meeting would include
the pricing of the rights issue and the people who are
willing to subscribe to it.
however, the pricing of the rights issue is definitely
poised to be very low, market sources said. the logic
for this is simple. if idbi does not sign an agreement
to the effect that it will not plan to merge itself with
idbi bank, investors (foreign and local) will keep away
from investing in the bank. idbi bank, which is a very
healthy bank inspite of the reins that idbi has on it,
has a long list of investors interested in acquiring a
part of its equity. but options are limited for these
investors, as great uncertainity looms over idbi's decision
to go for the reverse merger.
canara bank to cut plr by 25 bps
mumbai: canara bank has decided to cut its prime
lending rate (plr) by 25 basis points (bps) to 11 per
cent from june 1, 2003. currently the rate is at 11.25
per cent. the bank has also decided to cut it's prime
term lending rate (ptlr) by 25 bps to 11.5 per cent from
11.75 per cent. at a press conference, canara bank general
manager (mumbai- city circle) vs reddy said that along
with the state bank of india, canara bank would also very
soon enter into a joint venture to open up a branch in
russia. "we had been offered an opportunity to take
over a bank in russia around seven years back, but due
to the unfavourable conditions nvolved in acquiring it,
wie decided against it," he said.
pandyan grama bank net profit up 16 per cent to rs 13.75
crore
chennai: pandyan grama bank, one of the regional
rural banks in the country, has posted a 69 per cent growth
in its net profit during the year ended march 2003. net
profit of the bank stood at rs 13.75 crore as against
rs 8.16 crore in the previous year. total business of
the bank has reached rs 1,002 crore registering a growth
of about 20 per cent. deposits have gone up by 15 per
cent to rs 568 crore, and advances have increased to rs
434 crore (rs 340 crore). priority sector advances account
for nearly 69 per cent of the bank's total advances. non-performing
assets have been brought down to 4.06 per cent from 4.49
per cent.
13 may 2003
hdfc
standard crosses rs 5,000 cr in cumulative insurance coverage
coimbatore: hdfc standard life insurance company
has crossed rs 5,000 crore in cumulative insurance coverage
during 2002-03. the premium income from new business has
more than trebled during last fiscal compared with the
previous year. the company declared the third successive
bonus to the participating policyholders. but its chairman,
deepak parekh, has cautioned that the continuous fall
in long-term interest rates may lead to a fall on the
quantum of reversionary bonuses that may be declared in
the future.
canara bank net rises 38 per cent to rs 1,019 crore in
2002-03
bangalore: canara bank has posted a net profit
of rs 1,019 crore for the fiscal ending 2003, registering
a growth of 37.52 per cent compared to rs 741 crore in
fy 2002. the bank has also announced a maiden dividend
of 35 per cent after the bank got listed its initial public
offering. it has registered an operating profit of 20.6
per cent growth to reach rs 1997 crore (rs 1665 crore).
the total business of the bank stood at rs 112,567 crore
(rs 97,157 crore), registering a year-on-year growth of
15.86 per cent.
addressing
a press conference on the performance of the bank, canara
bank chairman rv shastri said in the current fiscal the
bank's growth will be driven by core banking activities
and fee-based projects such as insurance, credit cards
and forex business. the bank is targeting a total business
of rs 1,31,000 crore comprising rs 82,000 crore and rs
49,000 crore advances representing a 15 per cent growth.
sale of 21 state development loans closed
mumbai: the sale of 'on tap' 6.40 per cent state
loans, 2013 have been closed in respect of 21 states on
monday, the first day of the auctions, on receipt of the
respective target amounts and excess subscriptions of
up to 30 per cent of their target amounts have been retained.
the loans of state governments which have been closed
on monday were andhra pradesh, arunachal pradesh, goa,
gujarat, haryana, himachal pradesh, jammu & kashmir,
jharkhand, karnataka, kerala, madhya pradesh, maharashtra,
manipur, meghalaya, mizoram, punjab, rajasthan, sikkim,
tamil nadu, uttaranchal and west bengal, rbi said in a
release.
canara bank to deploy 3,000 staff for marketing
bangalore: canara bank plans to deploy 3,000 of
its personnel on a massive marketing effort this fiscal,
according to r v shastri, the bank's cmd. "of the
3,000 persons, 1,000 would be assigned to recoveries,"
he added. for the current fiscal, canara bank has projected
cash recoveries to the tune of rs 650 crore to rs 700
crore. in fy03, this was rs 563 crore. shastri, while
discounting the possibility of a second round of vrs,
said a decision on return on capital would be taken possibly
in the second half of the current fiscal. "we had
returned capital ahead of the ipo and have a lock-in of
one year," he added. the bank's current paid-up capital
stands at rs 410 crore.
more post offices get global money transfer facility
coimbatore: the department of posts has extended
the international money transfer service (imts), which
facilitates instantaneous transfer of funds from abroad
to india, to seven more sub-post offices in the coimbatore
postal division. the facility, first introduced in the
state in may 2001, is currently available in the coimbatore
head post office and r.s. puram hpo in the city.
it
is being extended to the post offices at coimbatore central,
karunyanagar, peelamedu, podanur, kuniamuthur, madukkarai
and ondipudur with effect from may 14.
ifci finalises big npa recovery proposal
new delhi: one of the largest single-lender clean-up
operations in the financial sector is to commence soon
with ifci ltd having finalised plans for a twin-track
assault on its non-performing assets (npas) through its
own asset reconstruction company (arc) - asset care enterprise
ltd (ace). according to the plan, part of the npas would
be transferred through ace to a special purpose vehicle
(spv) at fair market value after locating investors for
the assets. these assets would subsequently be jointly
resolved either by ifci or ace along with the joint venture
partners
gsfc delays interest payment on slr bonds
mumbai: the gujarat state finance corporation (gsfc)
has delayed interest payments on its slr bonds to banks.
gsfc has confirmed that it could not make the payments
due to a liquidity crunch. according to an official with
a leading public sector bank, gsfc's half-yearly coupon
payments, falling due on april 1, have not yet been received.
andhra bank allots rs 69 crore for it
mumbai: andhra bank is venturing on a major it
initiative with plans to get all its 1,100 branches online
and networked by december. "an allocation of rs 69
crore has been made for the year 2003-04 towards the computerisation
project. in 2001-03, the bank had spent rs 100 crore towards
the same. at present all our branches are fully computerised
but on a stand-alone basis,'' said dr vasanthan. the next
step of networking of branches will start through a cluster
approach, first among the 100-odd branches in hyderabad
in july to be later replicated in other parts of the country.
idbi bank to go for rights issue
mumbai: idbi bank proposes to go in for a rights
issue, shelving, at least for the time being, all other
plans to raise capital. the bank's board is meeting on
may 19 to consider an issue of shares to existing shareholders,
the bank informed stock exchanges on monday. the size
of the issue and the price at which the shares will be
offered is to be finalised at the meeting. an idbi bank
official, said, "this is our present plan to raise
capital. to what extent the capital requirement of the
bank will be met by the rights issue will depend on the
size of the issue.''
12 may 2003
high-value
loan defaulters still stay off - one-time settlement plan
to be extended
new delhi: with high-value loan defaulters continuing
to elude the recovery trap set for them against the backdrop
of threat of action under the securitisation act, the
one-time settlement (ots) scheme for defaults up to rs
10 crore is set to be extended by about three months.
the ministry of finance has given its assent for the extension
of scheme on a request received recently from the reserve
bank of india to extend the scheme by another few months.
"we have received a proposal from the rbi for giving
more time for borrowers to come forward for settlement.
we have given the go-ahead. the scheme would be extended
by around three more months," a top official of the
ministry confirmed.
uco bank public issue likely in july
kolkata: uco bank is planning to come out with
the public issue sometime in july or august, according
to v.p. shetty, chairman and managing director of the
bank. "we have sought the government's approval and
we hope to get it, together with rbi's approval, in this
month itself,'' shetty said. uco bank's ipo will be of
rs 200 crore, 10 per cent of which will be reserved for
the employees of the bank. "there will be no reservation
for the nris who can apply for our shares on non-repatriable
basis," he said. uco bank, according to its cmd,
was yet to decide on whether the issue would be offered
at par or at a premium. "we will decide on it at
a later date though i personally feel 20 per cent premium
may not be too bad,'' he said. "but nothing has been
finalised in this regard''.
sars outbreak in hong kong - it's business as usual for
hsbc india
thiruvananthapuram: multinational banking major
hsbc india is ready with a contingency plan for itself
to deal with any situation arising out of a possible outbreak
of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) and its
likely impact on conduct of business operations in the
country. that the outbreak has been traced to honk kong,
the base of the hsbc group's flagship in asia, is a bit
of bother alright, but it has not really affected business
in india, niall s.k. booker, chief executive officer,
hsbc india, said.
nsic
cuts hire purchase rates
coimbatore: national small industries corporation
(nsic), one of the approved lending agencies for financing
the textile technology upgradation fund scheme (tufs)
projects, has announced cut in the interest rate ranging
from one per cent to 1.5 per cent for borrowings under
hire purchase scheme, composite term loan (ctl) and raw
material assistance (rma) schemes. the rate reduction
is effective from may 1, according to a communication
from the nsic here. the rate reduction offered to the
hp scheme would now be made eligible to the tufs borrowings
made with the nsic in view of the extension of the tufs
to cover the hire purchase of equipment by the inter-ministerial
steering committee on tufs recently.
list of reports
on finance diary
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