Rupee at one month low — G-Secs fall
Mumbai: The rupee ended hit a one-month low of 43.77/78 against the dollar on Wednesday. The rupee had ended at 43.7250/7325 on Tuesday.

Forwards market: The six-month premium closed at 1.51 per cent (1.5 per cent) and the 12-month premium closed at 1.37 per cent (1.394).

G-Secs: Prices fell by around seven paise with the news of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates by a quarter percentage point. The 7.38 per cent 10 year benchmark paper closed at Rs104.83 (6.73 per cent YTM) on Wednesday against Tuesday's close of Rs104.90 (6.72 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The inter bank rates closed at 4.75/85 per cent.

CBLO market: 192 trades aggregating Rs6,633.20 crore were put through in the rate range of 4.79 to 5.50 per cent.
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Centurion Bank GDR issue raises $70 mn
New Delhi: The Centurion Bank has raised $70 million (Rs 300 crore) through the issue of global depository receipts (GDRs), which will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The amount has been raised through the issue of 14,583,300 GDRs at a price of $4.80 per GDR.

Each GDR represents 15 common shares of the Bank of face value Re 1 per share, Centurion Bank has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Citigroup acted as the sole book runner and lead manager to the GDR offering. The bank has given a greenshoe option to the book runner for up to $10 million, it said.
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Union Bank to bring 1,250 branches under CBS network
Mangalore: The Union Bank of India (UBI) has said that it is planning to bring 1,250 branches under the core banking solution (CBS) network by December. The bank had already connected 600 branches under the CBS network.

UBI has opened 75 branches this year, and as many branches will be opened next year as well. The bank was also planning to open representative offices in Dubai and Doha.

With regard to agriculture lending, the bank said that it had already reached 14 per cent of the total credit disbursement with the target at 18 per cent. The bank should be able to reach 16.5 per cent mark in agriculture lending this fiscal, officials said.
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Egypt's Alexandria bank opts for Finacle
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has said that Egypt's Bank of Alexandria has signed up for Finacle, its core banking solution. Infosys has not disclosed the order size.

Infosys also said that it will be a long-term technology partner of the Bank of Alexandria and will support the bank's growth plans.
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Cholamandalam Finance to issue NCDs
Chennai: Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd has informed the BSE that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on March 22, has approved the issue of non convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis in one or more series to mutual funds/institutions/banks/bodies corporate or other agencies.

The plan is to raise Rs400 crore through medium-term NCDs and Rs800 crore through short-term NCDs, subject to a limit of Rs250 crore of debentures outstanding at any point in time.

The company has said that the board wants to arm itself with borrowing powers, so that it could raise resources as and when required during the year.
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ICICI Lombard launches cover for cruise travellers
Mumbai: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has launched a new platinum insurance plan for overseas travel, especially catering to the needs of cruise travellers. The plan offers medical and home insurance cover. According to a company press release, the plan has been introduced as a response to the increasing demand for cruises as a holiday option.

The plan provides home insurance covering the physical structure as well as the contents over and above the medical cover. It also offers financial emergency assistance along with reimbursement of expenses for dental treatment, repatriation of remains, passport and checked baggage loss, personal liability and hijack distress allowance up to seven days.
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HDFC and SBI float real estate venture fund
Mumbai: The Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC Ltd) has announced its venture into the real estate fund business with the launch of the HDFC Property fund, in association with the State Bank of India.

A trustee company (HDFC Ventures Trustee Company Ltd) and an asset management company (HDFC Venture Capital Ltd) have been incorporated for the purposes of the fund.

The SEBI approved venture capital fund would be investing in equity-linked instruments of companies engaged primarily in real estate in major cities in India, said a press release.

To achieve a balanced risk-reward profile, the inaugural scheme, HI-REF will invest in three broad classes of companies. These are projects which are complete -comprising real estate assets in use with established high quality tenants denoting steady income type characteristics, projects in the development stage - where the lead time to commercial deployment is typically between 1-3 years and projects in the planning stage where the lead time to commercial deployment would between 3-6 years, the release said.
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