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PNB rules out dilution in Govt. stake
Kolkata: The Punjab National Bank has ruled out any further dilution in the Govt.'s stake from the present level of 57 per cent.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI-sponsored seminar here, Chairman and Managing Director of PNB, S C Gupta, said "there will be no further dilution in government stake".

Last year, the bank's business was to the tune of Rs1,63,000 crore, which was expected to touch Rs1,88,000 crore in the current financial year.

Talking on the subject of autonomy, Gupta also said that with the government allowing the hiring of professionals from outside, the bank would adopt a differential pay structure for them. However, he said that the bank will have to exercise caution so that the move did not "cause heartburn" among existing staffers.

Gupta said the bank had appointed Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) for re-organisation in certain areas with the view to increase profitability.
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Kerala and Karnataka to sign MoU with RBI to strengthen UCBs
Mumbai: The states of Kerala and Karnataka are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Reserve Bank of India shortly towards strengthening the urban cooperative banks (UCBs) in their respective states.

"Close on the heels of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat signing MoUs with RBI, Kerala and Karnataka are expected to sign a similar pact in a week's time," National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks & Credit Societies Ltd chairman, Vijaykumar told reporters here today.

Speaking on the sidelines of national conference on UCBs organised by the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA), Vijaykumar said that following the MoU, RBI would assess training and computerisation needs of the UCBs in Kerala and Karnataka.

He also indicated that many more states are expected to sign the MoU gradually.

Earlier, RBI had unveiled a vision document for UCBs, envisaging the signing of an MoU with state governments. The MoU would endeavour to bring about a convergence on the approach towards UCBs and recommend remedial actions required for the development of the sector, since they are subject to the dual control of both the states and the RBI.
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StanChart may pick up Bank of Bahrain's Indian business
Mumbai: The Standard Chartered Bank, the largest foreign bank in the country, is in talks to acquire the Indian operations of the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK). Last week StanChart signed a non-binding agreement with BBK towards this end.

BBK, with assets of around Rs700 crore and deposits of Rs430 crore, has apparently informed the Reserve Bank of India that it wants to exit from the country.

Subject to RBI approval, BBK would become the third bank that StanChart will takeover in India. StanChart had earlier acquired Grindlays in 2000 and took over the business of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) in 2004.

BBK, Bahrain's largest bank, has two branches in India, located at Mumbai and Hyderabad. It is mainly into corporate banking but also has a retail loan portfolio. BBK made a profit of Rs83 lakh for the financial year ended March 31, 2004, against a net profit of Rs7.3 crore in the previous fiscal.

The net NPAs of the BBK as on March 31, 2004 was at 17.7% (Rs53.8 crore), while the gross NPAs of the bank stood at 21.9% (Rs70.1 crore). The capital adequacy level of the bank was at 21.1%. Officials said that the NPAs of the bank have been bought down to 5.5% and its CAR was at 11.5% as on March 31, 2005, after the bank made a massive provisioning last year. The bank has a net worth of around Rs68 crore.

StanChart had reported a net profit of Rs596 crore for fiscal 2004, while the asset base of the bank was at Rs29,312 crore.
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ICRA rates IDBI HomeFin short term debt at A1+
New Delhi: Credit rating agency ICRA has assigned the highest credit quality 'A1+' rating to the Rs300 crore short term debt of IDBI Homefinance Ltd.

The rating in the short term has factored in IHFL's strong parentage, IDBI's outstanding ratings of 'LAA+', 'MAA+' and 'A1+', its improved funding profiles and favourable asset quality, ICRA has said in a release.

The rating also took into account IHFL's relatively low but improving profitability and its comfortable capital adequacy ratio, the agency said.

The rating is supported by the high financial flexibility that IHFL enjoys as a subsidiary of IDBI and its access to committed lines of credit from banks, ICRA said.
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UTI Mastergain renamed as the UTI Equity Fund
Mumbai: The UTI Mastergain Unit Scheme has been renamed as UTI Equity Fund with effect from July 1, 2005.

The UTI Mutual Fund has said in a statement on Friday that the change in designation has been done in order to distinguish the scheme from other Master series schemes and also to bring clarity to its current positioning as an aggressively managed, diversified equity fund.

The fund is an open-ended equity scheme having over ten lakh investors and a fund size of over Rs1,200 crore with a net asset value (NAV) of Rs20.02 per unit as on June 30.
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LIC drops out of race for AMP Sanmar
Mumbai: The Life Insurance Corporation has decided against making a bid for the Chennai-based life insurer AMP Sanmar. LIC's senior management has apparently held that acquiring a private firm with its own distribution network would cause channel conflict since there would be two sets of distribution teams with different salary structures.

LIC had earlier indicated that it was open to the proposal and would consider takeover as an option. JM Financial, another interested party, too has also pulled out of the race, leaving the Anil Ambani Group, Aviva, ICICI Prudential and Kotak Life Insurance as te remaining contestants.

Industry sources have indicate that the leading bidder for the insurance company would be known by the end of July.
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