Rupee at 71 month high - G-Secs move up
Mumbai: The rupee moved beyond the psychological 43.30 level, to a 71 month high on the back of speculation on the revaluation of the Chinese yuan. The rupee opened at 43.39 and moved up to 43.28/29, closing the day at 43.28/29, up by about 15 paise from Monday's close at 43.44.

Forwards market: The 12-month premium closed at 1.3 per cent (1.4) and the 6-month premium closed at 1.5 per cent (1.62).

G-Secs: With the appreciation of the rupee filtering in and the State loan auction of Rs7,300 crore declared yesterday, there was some buying interest in the market.

The currently active 7.55-5 year-2010 paper closed the day at Rs102.95/97 (6.84 per cent YTM). On Tuesday, it had closed at Rs102.85. The 8.07-12 year-2017 paper ended at Rs104.97, up from yesterday's close at Rs104.85 . The 7.38-10 year-2015 benchmark paper closed at Rs101.30/35 against Tuesday's Rs101.25.

Call rates: The inter bank rates closed between 4.95-5.05 per cent.

CBLO market: 146 trades amounting to Rs6,118.65 crore in the rate range of 4.87-5.00 per cent.
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Yuan revaluation report causes rupee rally
Mumbai: The Chinese Yuan was the cause of intense speculation in the Asian currencies markets yesterday.The rupee hit a six-year high against the dollar on expectations that after ten years of being pegged against the dollar, the Chinese currency will be now be valued upwards by at least 5 to 7 per cent. But wires later in the day said that the report might be a hoax.

China's Central Bank said it had no information of any plans to revalue the Yuan and the report appeared to be a misinterpretation.The rupee has by now gained 6.5 per cent against the dollar in the past eight months.
Back to News Review index page   RBI: UCBs and listed companies to participate in repos
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted sale of Government securities, allotted in primary issues on the day of allotment, with and between consistent subsidiary general ledger (CSGL) account holders, with immediate effect.

The RBI has also permitted urban scheduled co-operative banks (UCBs) and listed companies having gilt accounts to participate in repo facility in Government securities.

Listed companies that wish to participate in repo transactions should meet the following requirements:

(a) The minimum period for reverse repo (lending of funds) by listed companies is seven days. However, listed companies can borrow funds through repo for shorter periods including overnight.
(b) Where the listed company is a `buyer' of securities in the first leg of the repo contract (i.e., lender of funds), the custodian through which the repo transaction is settled should block these securities in the gilt account and ensure that these securities are not further sold or re-repoed during the repo period but are held for delivery under the second leg.
(c) The counterparty to the listed companies for repo/reverse repo transactions should be either a bank or a primary dealer maintaining SGL Account with the RBI.

Though co-operative banks are not allowed to enter into repo transactions with non-banking financial companies, they can enter into transactions with primary dealers in Government securities.

As of now, commercial banks, primary dealers, NBFCs, mutual funds, housing finance companies, and insurance companies are permitted to participate in repo facility.
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T+1 settlement in G-Secs from May 24
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has announced that a standardised settlement on T+1 basis of all outright secondary market transactions in Government Securities will be allowed from May 24, 2005, according to a press release from RBI.

However, in the case of repo transactions in G-Secs, market participants will have the choice of settling the first leg on either T+0 basis or T+1 basis, as per their requirements.

Standardising the settlement period to T+1 will provide participants more processing time for transactions, and hence will help efficient funds management as well as risk management, the release said.
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RBI: T-Bills auction fully subscribed
Mumbai: The auction of the 364-day Treasury Bills and the 91-day Treasury Bills were fully subscribed, the Reserve Bank of India said on Wednesday. The notified amount for both T-Bills was Rs2,000 crore.

For the 364-day T-Bill, the RBI received 85 competitive bids amounting to Rs6,080 crore. Of these, it accepted 35 bids. The cut-off price was Rs94.73. The partial allotment percentage was 4.19 per cent from 19 bids. The weighted average price was Rs94.74.

In the case of 91-day T-Bill, the RBI received 58 competitive bids amounting to Rs7,668 crore. Of these, it accepted 49 bids. The cut-off price was Rs98.72. The partial allotment percentage was 7.34 per cent from 33 bids. The weighted average price was Rs98.73.
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Banking Results: State Bank of Mysore, J&K Bank, SBI, Bank of Rajasthan
State Bank of Mysore annual net up 17 per cent
Bangalore: The State Bank of Mysore (SBM) has reported a 17-per cent increase in net profit for the financial year ended 2004-05 at Rs206.26 crore, compared to the previous year's Rs176.38 crore.

The bank's board has recommended a dividend of 75 per cent for the year, which will result in a payout of Rs27 crore for the year.
The bank for the last financial year has reported an operating profit of Rs451.66 crore, up from Rs424.92, the growth being powered by a big increase in credit offtake, the bank has said.

The bank, has remained unaffected by the fall in asset yields, since the spreads remained constant due to the fall in cost of working funds. As a result the gross income of the bank has risen to Rs1,553.79 crore over the previous year's Rs1,397.47 crore.

Interest income during the period has risen to Rs1,167.77 crore from Rs1,057.05 crore. Interest earnings on advances have offset the drop in treasury income. Interest on advances rose to Rs656.25 crore from Rs557.92 crore.

Other income, which included fee-based incomes, was Rs386.01 crore, up from Rs340.42 crore.

SBM's gross expenditure for the last financial year was Rs1,102.12 crore, up from the previous year's Rs972.54 crore.

The bank for the current year has targeted a business growth of Rs5,200 crore.

J&K Bank FY05 net dips 71.68 per cent
New Delhi: The Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd has reported a 71.68 per cent dip in net profit at Rs115.07 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005, compared to Rs406.33 crore in 2003-04. The Board of Directors of the bank has also recommended an 80 per cent dividend, that is, Rs8 per share, to the shareholders for the year 2004-2005.

Total income has decreased 10.51 per cent to Rs1631.26 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005 from Rs1822.95 crore in 2003-04, the bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The bank has posted a net profit of Rs45.88 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 compared to Rs98.03 crore for the corresponding quarter in 2003-04.

Total income has decreased to Rs420.28 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 from Rs435.56 crore in the year-ago period.

SBI Caps FY05 net up 40 per cent
Mumbai: SBI Capital Markets Ltd, a subsidiary of the State Bank of India, has posted a 40 per cent hike in its net profit at Rs88 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2005 against Rs63 crore in 2003-04. The board has also recommended 75 per cent dividend for the year ending March 31, 2005.

The total income for the reporting year rose by 24 per cent to Rs174 crore as against Rs138 crore in 2003-04. The fee-based income rose to Rs52 crore in FY-05 from Rs31 crore while the income from treasury operations grew to Rs70 crore from Rs54 crore in FY04.

The project advisory, the mainstay of SBI Caps, and loan syndication businesses showed a significant growth aided by robust growth in Indian economy and capital markets.

SBI Caps arranged debt worth Rs16,000 crore for its clients. The value of the portfolio, which has substantial component of equity, stood at Rs330 crore.

Bank of Rajasthan Q4 net loss at Rs12.09 crore
Mumbai: The Bank of Rajasthan has reported a lower net loss of Rs12.09 crore for the fourth quarter of 2004/2005 against a net loss of Rs22.13 crore in the year-ago period.

The loss was attributed to the fact that the bank had made provisions towards employees wage benefits and extra floating provisions for non-performing assets as well as depreciation on government securities.

During the fourth quarter, the bank earned an interest income of Rs138.49 crore, as compared to Rs128.92 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The bank's board has recommended a dividend of 11 per cent.

For the full year, the bank saw a fall of 49.28 per cent in its net profit to Rs35.01 crore from Rs69.03 crore last year. For the full year, the bank made provisions toward employees wage benefits worth Rs27 crore and extra floating provisions for NPA coupled with depreciation of Rs66 crore on Government Securities.

Net interest income for 2004-05 was of Rs522.35 crore (Rs502.85 crore).

Net advances grew to Rs2,896.17 crore (Rs2,332.58 crore) and deposits grew to Rs8,120.31 crore (Rs7,638.93 crore).

Capital adequacy ratio is 12.75 per cent (11.18 per cent). Net NPAs is 2.50 per cent (2.99 per cent).
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