12 july 2003

tata finance board okays preferential issue
mumbai: the board of tata finance ltd (tfl) has approved to the issue of such number of equity shares of rs 10 each to an aggregate value of rs 300 crore on a preferential basis to tata sons ltd and tata industries ltd at a price to be determined in accordance with sebi guidelines. the company, in a notice to bombay stock exchange, informed that the proposed issue of equity shares will be subject to the approval of the shareholders under section 81(1a) of the companies act, 1956, as also such other approvals/exemptions, as may be necessary. the proposed issue of equity shares on a preferential basis is with a view to convert the interest free advances given by tata sons ltd and tata industries ltd in order to meet the minimum net owned funds requirement under section 45(1a) of the rbi act, 1934 and also to meet the capital adequacy ratio (car) stipulated under non-banking financial companies prudential norms (reserve bank) directions, 1998. tfl is one of the leading non-banking finance companies. its primary focus is on providing finance for the hire purchase of commercial vehicles, four wheelers and two wheelers. associate companies of tata finance operate in the distribution of public debt, stockbroking and housing finance.

sbi forms rib redemption cell to repay investors
new delhi: state bank of india has formalised a rib redemption cell to repay about rs 25,000 crore to investors of resurgent india bond (rib), from 1 october. the rib redemption cell in delhi, the local head office, has started accepting redemption applications. "the last date for submission of redemption of the ribs is 22 august," g c jashnani, officer on special duty for ribs, said. the maturity proceeds would be paid in dollars, pounds and euro in case the bondholders continue to be nris or have become a resident in india before the maturity of the ribs, he said. resident indians can place their rib proceeds as term deposits or in resident foreign currency accounts of sbi. the bank will pay in non-repatriable indian rupees at the prevailing forex rates if the bondholder is a resident indian.

icici prudential to double its agency force
mumbai: icici prudential, the largest private sector life insurance company in india with around 4 lakh policyholders, plans to double its agency force to 40,000 during the current financial year. the life insurance joint venture between icici bank, the largest private sector bank in india, and the uk-based prudential has paid a total agency commission of over rs 36 crore during 2002-03.

j&k bank net up 35% to rs 97 crore in q1
mumbai: jammu & kashmir bank (j&k bank) has registered a rise of 35.06 per cent in its net profit to rs 97.30 crore for the first quarter of 2003-04 as compared to rs 72.30 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. the total income of the bank has registered a growth of 16.18 per cent to rs 475.09 crore for the quarter ended 30 june 2003 as against rs 408.90 crore of the corresponding quarter of 2002-03, a statement said on friday. the operating profit for the quarter recorded a jump of 43.70 per cent to rs 166.78 crore. the credit portfolio and deposits have increased by 21.70 per cent and 19.25 per cent respectively during the quarter.

pnb plans representative office in london
new delhi: punjab national bank (pnb) is opening a representative office in london shortly to bolster its overseas presence. the london office is expected to become functional before of the end of this month. the bank also plans to open two more representative offices at shanghai and dubai that are expected to become operational during the current financial year. pnb already has a representative office at almaty, kazakhstan. the long-term plan of the bank is to convert such offices into full-fledged branches or subsidiaries. pnb also has a joint venture with everest bank ltd, nepal.

gic to invest rs 5 crore in biotech venture fund
mumbai: general insurance corporation (gic) plans to invest rs 5 crore in apidc venture capital's biotechnology venture fund. the fund, which is raising capital commitments to the tune of rs 150 crore, is india's first national fund focussed on biotechnology companies and has recently received approval from the insurance regulatory and development authority for investment by insurance companies. with the investment commitment of gic, the biotechnology fund has reached a corpus of rs 40 crore. other commitments include rs 15 crore from the andhra pradesh government, rs 10 crore from andhra bank and rs 10 crore from lic.

state bank of patiala, maruti join hands
new delhi: maruti udyog ltd has entered into an alliance with state bank of patiala (sbp) for financing its cars in north india. the two partners will also utilise each other's existing customer base to cross-sell maruti cars and sbp car loans. further, both of them will also access each other's distribution networks for promotional activities. maruti and sbp will also undertake joint advertising and promotional activities, the statement said. earlier, maruti had tied up with state bank of india at the national level to offer car finance. since march this year, maruti has sold over 7,000 vehicles through its alliance with sbi, which is currently available in 80 cities.

forex derivative contracts: rbi amends fema guidelines
new delhi: prior approval of the reserve bank of india (rbi) will not be required now for "persons resident outside india" to purchase a forward contract to hedge investments made in the country from 1 january 1993. a rbi notification amending the fema regulations on foreign exchange derivative contracts has now allowed authorised dealer to offer forward contracts to persons resident outside india to hedge the investments made in india since 1 january 1993. the authorised dealers can offer such forward contracts subject to the verification of exposure in india. further, the rbi has stipulated that such forward contracts once cancelled cannot be rebooked. prior to the latest change, the fema regulations on foreign exchange derivative contracts provided that: "reserve bank of india may, on application, allow a person resident outside india to purchase a forward contract to hedge his investment made since 1 january 1993.

11 july 2003

care gives aaa rating for nabard issues
mumbai: rating agency care has assigned the highest rating of aaa to nabard's forthcoming borrowing issues in the current year for up to rs 2,000 crore. "this is an umbrella rating granted to the various specific issues that will be floated by the national bank over the current year," care said.

gic to invest rs 5 crore in apidc-vcl biotechnology fund
kolkata: general insurance co ltd (gic) says it will invest rs 5 crore in apidc venture capital's biotechnology venture fund. apidc-vcl is a private-partnership between ventureast group and the andhra pradesh industrial development corp. gic is now exclusively dealing with reinsurance, both inward and outward. it has emerged as one of the largest reinsurers in the afro-asian region. this is india's first national fund focussed on biotechnology companies, which has received the approval from the irda for investment by insurance companies.

bank of india to attach pal properties
mumbai: bank of india (boi) is planning to attach the properties of premier automobile ltd under the securitisation and reconstruction of financial assets and enforcement of security interest act 2002 (sarfaesi act) or non-payment of dues of rs 9.50 crore. boi has issued notice under the sarfaesi act 2002 to the company in february 2003 and is now planning to take over pal's assets which was mortgaged to boi. the assets includes the land and the factory of pal, located at kalyan, in thane district of maharashtra. pal is the manufacturer of the fiat brand. boi is also planning to take possession of the assets of yuvraj industries for the non-payment of dues which amounted to rs 15.54 crore. when contacted boi officials revealed the plan to attach 89 flats in vadodara, and also the properties of the guarantor of the loan, amber food pvt ltd. boi had issued notice to them on august last year. "we were waiting for striking compromise settlements with both the companies. because, attaching properties is not the proper solution of the problem", a senior boi official said, adding that the current plan emerges after the failure to strike compromise deals with the companies. meanwhile, boi has also given consent to icici bank and industrial finance company of india for attaching properties of lloyd steel industries and modern suitings for non-payment of dues. boi's exposure to lloyd steel amounted to rs 150 crore while its dues suiting are to the tune of rs 7.5 crore, boi official said.

bharat overseas bank to hawk bobcards
mumbai: bobcards ltd, the credit card subsidiary of bank of baroda ltd, has tied up with bharat overseas bank for the distribution of credit cards. says c b chhaya, managing director, bobcards: "our view is to increase our card base in the south. we thought it better to market our product through an established bank to ensure the quality of business, rather than the quantity.'' the company currently has a card base of 200 thousand and is targeting a sale of around 10,000 cards through this tie-up in the next three months. g. krishna murthy, chairman and ceo of the bank, said, the tie up with bobcards is a move towards boosting the bank's non-fund based income. bharat overseas bank ltd, will market the entire, range of bobcards, which include bob card paras, bob card silver, bob card gold, bob card global through the network of its branches. at present the bank has a network of 80 branches and plans to open 45 more branches in 3 years. meanwhile, bobcards has achieved a net profit of rs 4.15 crore during the financial year 2002-03, as compared to rs 2.30 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year. total income of the company was at rs 32.71 crore (rs 31.52 crore). the company has announced a 10 per cent dividend for its shareholders.

ubi plans bullion trading
coimbatore: union bank of india is launching the union bullion (bullion trading) services in the city on friday. mr v. leeladhar, chairman and managing director of the bank will launch the services, according to a press release.

central bank tn cms branch
coimbatore: the fourth cash management service (cms) branch of the central bank of india (cbi) and the first in tamil nadu was operationalised here on thursday. the bank is planning to open one such specialised branch in chennai soon. hitherto, the bank had addressed the problems of its retail customers with regard to collection and realisation of cheque through the quick collection centres. now, it is targeting the corporate clients by offering such service through the specialised branch. according to s. gopalakrishnan nair, assistant general manager, the bank is proposing to open 5 such specialised branches taking the total cms branches to 10 during the current year.

10 july 2003