23 october 2003

bob allots rs 3,000 crore for infrastructure projects
kolkata: bank of baroda has allotted around rs 3,000 crore for investment in infrastructure projects. the bank sees more such allotments for infrastructure in future, said p.s. shenoy, cmd, while addressing members of merchants chamber of commerce on wednesday. the bank chief also sees the presence of many positive "macro factors" - the government's focus on infrastructure development, large foreign exchange reserves and expectations of gdp growth. "there is substantial liquidity in the system at this juncture and there is pressure on interest rates to move southwards," shenoy said. he, however, observed that credit offtake was still quite slow.

the banking system was warming up to the realisation that there may be a convergence of rates prevalent in domestic and international markets. bank of baroda was also rolling out a major overseas expansion, mr shenoy said, referring to its plans for countries such as china, new zealand and singapore, where representative offices would be set up. further, there will be a new subsidiary in tanzania, which will strengthen the bank's presence in african nations.

ing vysya to foray into pension market
visakhapatnam: ing vysya life insurance wants to enter and develop the pension market in the country on a substantial scale, once the regulations are finalised. a separate company may also be floated, if necessary, according to yvo metzelaar, managing director and ceo. speaking to newspersons on wednesday, he said that the pension market was in a very nascent stage in india, but in 27 countries across the world the ing group was a major player in the pension segment.

the company had so far covered 60,000 lives and earned premium income of rs 43 crore. "we are concentrating on providing quality service with a range of eight products and several add-on services. we will attempt to tap the rural markets in coastal andhra pradesh,'' he said. india has succeeded in opening up the insurance sector without too many hassles and the insurance regulatory authority was functioning well on the whole."however, the distribution channels have to be streamlined and there are too many restrictive clauses on commissions for comfort,'' he said. lic would continue to be the dominant player in the market, but ing vysya would strive to capture at least 15 per cent of the total market held by private life insurers, he added.

idbi bank q2 net up 125%
chennai: idbi bank reported a 125-per cent growth in net profit at rs 36.19 crore for the quarter ended september 30, 2003. the profits were driven by a 20-per cent growth in interest income at rs 174.66 crore and a 109-per cent growth in other income at rs 65.5 crore for this quarter. the growth in profits came despite a jump in loan loss provisions of rs 20 crore in this quarter compared to rs 5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. the bank maintained its net interest margin at 3.1 per cent. retail loans, mainly housing, proved to be the main driver for asset growth. the housing loan portfolio of the bank grew by nearly rs 450 crore in this quarter to touch a level of rs 2,143 crore. the bank's deposits grew by rs 421 crore during the quarter to rs 6,657 crore as at the end of september 2003. the bank's capital adequacy ratio at 8.22 per cent continued to be below the regulatory minimum of 9 per cent. idbi bank has a rights issue that is on currently to raise rs 154 crore to address the issue.

south indian bank lifeline for patients
coimbatore: south indian bank has launched a financial assistance programme for medical treatment - sib lifeline. the scheme covers all major ailments and surgical corrections, v.a. paul, regional head, said,the bank had signed an mou with the management of certain hospitalsthis would not prevent the patient from availing themselves of loan from the bank if they chose some other hospital. "in the unfortunate event of the patient dying within seven days of the surgery, the loan amount disbursed in such cases would be re-imbursed to the bank by united india, as per the special arrangement concluded by the bank for this scheme,." he said.

bank of rajasthan q2 profit rises 125%
mumbai: with a jump in other income, private sector and lower cost of funds, bank of rajasthan has posted a 125 per cent growth in its net profit for the second quarter ended september 30, 2003 at rs 34.91 crore, up from rs 15.53 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year.

other income went up 63 per cent to rs 57.07 crore (rs 34.88 crore). total income increased to rs 177.38 crore (rs 149.31 crore) and total expenditure increased to rs 123.13 crore (rs 108.83 crore). said the bank's chairman, p.k. tayal, at a press conference here, "the bank has seen growth in all areas and we have been able to reduce our cost of deposits to 5.72 per cent from 6.83 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.''the bank, which has adopted the 90-day norm in provisioning but not in npa recognition, has seen its net npas decrease a tad to 8 per cent which works out to rs 158 crore. gross npas increased to 14 per cent and works out to rs 301 crore. as on june 2003, the net npas were rs 165 crore while gross npas was lower at rs 293 crore.

federal bank opens branch in thiruvananthapuram
thiruvananthapuram: federal bank will open 23 more branches across the country during this financial year, which will help it achieve the goal of becoming a fully computerised and networked banking behemoth with 450 branches. this was stated here by k.p. padmakumar, chairman, while delivering the presidential address at the inaugural ceremony of the 427th branch at cotton hill here. according to him, federal bank has already implemented world-class banking services such as anywhere banking and internet banking. it has also distinguished itself by being able to open the maximum number of rural atms centres in the state. it has always strove to reach the benefits of technology to the rural masses. the fully computerised branch at cotton hill was inaugurated by k.p. hormese tharakan, director-general of police, kerala.

centurion signs agreement with navy
new delhi: centurion bank ltd has tied up with the india navy to disburse salary on behalf of the naval staff across the country. in addition, centurion would also offer several value-added services in toto to the naval staff as part of the understanding.

kotak group not to seek strategic investor now
mumbai: kotak mahindra bank has registered a 67 per cent growth in net profit for the second quarter ended september 30, 2003 at rs 19.84 crore, up from rs 11.88 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. these figures are not strictly comparable since the nbfc was converted into a bank in march 2003. the new bank will focus on lending as the thrust area and foresees 40 per cent growth in disbursements by the year-end. the net profit of the kotak group - kotak mahindra capital co, kotak securities, kotak mahindra primus, kotak mahindra amc & trustee, om kotak mahindra - for the second quarter is at rs 38.94 crore (rs 21.77 crore). the bank has collected fresh deposits of rs 650 crore in the first half year, 90 per cent of which are term deposits.

apart from this, it also has liabilities such as rs 150 crore of fixed deposits transferred from the nbfc, rs 350 crore of certificates of deposits and so on. the bank has advances of rs 1,550 crore, 85 per cent of which is retail. the break up of advances is as follows: commercial vehicle finance rs 875 crore, personal loans rs 238 crore, home loans rs 25 crore, corporate loans rs 236 crore and sme and miscellaneous rs 175 crore. the bank with a networth of rs 580 crore can double its asset base without raising fresh capital and has a capital adequacy as high as 19.55 per cent, said mr uday kotak, executive vice-chairman & md, kotak mahindra bank at a press conference here today. the kotak group, which hold about 63 per cent stake in the bank is not looking for a strategic investor at present. the bank has seen significant fii interest in its stock; fii holding increased to 14.8 per cent from 3.4 per cent in march 2003.

22 october 2003

iob q2 net up 75% to rs 154.62 crore
new delhi: indian overseas bank (iob) has recorded a net profit of rs 154.62 crore for the quarter ended september 30, 2003, a 75 per cent growth over rs 87.97 crore achieved during the previous corresponding period. the second quarter's operating profit stood at rs 350 crore as against rs 201 crore previously. for the half-year, iob's net profit has shown a 82 per cent rise at rs 293 crore over the previous year's rs 160.93 crore. the operating profit for the half-year stood at rs 622.61 crore (rs 359.76 crore).

speaking at a press conference here on tuesday, the chairman and managing director, iob, s.c. gupta, said the bank's total business crossed rs 58,000 crore during the half-year ended september 30. total deposits increased from rs 36,699 crore on march 2003 to rs 38,809 crore on september 30. advances grew from rs 18,431 crore to rs 19,804 crore. gupta pointed out that during the six-month period, the bank registered a growth of 8.88 per cent in domestic non-food credit compared to 2.70 per cent registered by the banking system.

corporation bank to finance hero cycles, delaval products
mangalore: corporation bank has signed two mous with hero cycles ltd and delaval pvt ltd for financing their products to the customers. a press release by the deputy general manager, b.r. bhat, said here on tuesday that the mous make corporation bank the "favoured bank" of hero cycles and delaval for financing their products.

cycles would be financed to farmers, labourers, traders, businessmen, salaried persons, self-help groups and ngos such as farmers' clubs under the `corp cycle loan yojana'. the bank's general manager, a. mohan rao, signed both the mous on behalf of the bank. bharat goel, associate vice-president (finance) and company secretary, hero cycles, and hemant ogale, managing director of delaval, signed mous on behalf of their respective companies.

tata aig to offer financial planning course for agents
mumbai: tata aig life insurance company ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) with the association of financial planners (afp), india, to offer a certificate financial planning course to all those who are part of the insurers' distribution channels.the association of financial planners, india, is affiliated to the financial planning standards board (fpsb), inc of the us, said a press release.

sbi signs agreement with new india assurance
mumbai: state bank of india and new india assurance co ltd have tied up for the distribution of the latter's general insurance policies through the bank's branch network. as per a memorandum of understanding signed by the two parties, sbi will become the corporate agent of new india after completing the formalities prescribed by irda and will sell the companies policies through 9,000 of its branches, said a press release.
the tie-up will enable sbi to leverage its branch network general insurance products while new india can gain access to sbi's huge network and customer base, it said.

bob opens first offshore banking unit in mumbai
mumbai: bank of baroda has set up its first offshore banking unit (obu) at seepz here. this takes the total number of its obus to three. the new obu would be primarily engaged in wholesale foreign currency resource raising and deployment with a focus on the requirements of units located at the special economic zones (sezs), said a senior bank official.

the branch will provide foreign currency finance to 100 per cent eou units located in the zones, indian corporates and businesses at internationally competitive rates.

21 october 2003

abn amro enters home loans with 'super saver' offer
new delhi: abn amro has entered the highly competitive housing loan segment with the launch of its super saver loan package. under the scheme, the bank will offer an interest rate of 6 per cent in the first year and 6.5 per cent in the second year and from the third year it will offer loans at the then prevailing floating rate. according to the executive vice-president, romesh sobti, loans between rs 1 lakh to rs 1 crore would be offered. the bank is targeting at least 10 per cent of the rs 50,000 crore home loan segment. under the super saver scheme, the equated monthly instalment (emi) is about rs 717 per lakh for a 20-year loan. the scheme will be available till december 31, 2003.

the bank's move to enter the housing loan segment with such low rates is expected to trigger another rate war among banks and housing finance companies. "we are targeting our existing clients and consumers in nine major cities. we will extend it to 25-30 cities in two-three years," sobti said. apart from the promotional scheme, sobti said the bank would offer housing loans at floating rate of 7.75 per cent and a fixed rate of 8.25 per cent. the bank will re-price its floating loans every six months, while fixed rates would be revised every three years. "we want to be amongst the top five players with over 10 per cent market share," nitin chopra, head of consumer banking, said.

the bank has tied up with icici lombard general insurance to provide property insurance to home loan clients. it would also offer its smart gold credit card to the borrowers free of joining fees and concessional rates on personal loans and auto loans. abn amro will also offer a refinance facility, which would enable the bank to take over the entire loan outstanding that a customer has with another bank or housing finance provider.

bharat overseas net up 50 pc
chennai: bharat overseas bank ltd has reported a net profit of rs 13.54 crore for the first half of the current year, 50 per cent higher than rs 9.02 crore it made in the same period last year.in a press release, the bank said that its operating profit went up to rs 29.63 crore, from rs 16.39 crore earlier. interest spread also increased 2.23 per cent, as on september 30, 2003, compared to 2.82 per cent on the same date last year. "the capital adequacy of the bank is comfortably placed at 13.24 per cent," the release says.

andhra bank cuts rate for shgs
hyderabad: andhra bank has decided to reduce the rate of interest by 50 basis points to 8.5 per cent from the existing level of 9 per cent in its efforts to encourage the self help groups (shgs) movement across the country, especially in view of the good recovery performance under shg-bank linkage programme. the new rate would come into effect from november 1, the bank said in a press release. since inception of shg-bank linkage programme, the bankhas financed 91,434 groups with rs 222.62 crore, said the bank general manager, a.l. nageswara rao.

sbt net doubles
thiruvananthapuram: the operating profit of state bank of travancore (sbt) at the end of the first half-year of the current fiscal went up 116 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year. the operating profit stood at rs 391.98 crore as against rs 181.82 crore at the end of september 2002, according to a statement from the bank. the net profit reached rs 115.45 crore (rs 58.96 crore), an increase of 96 per cent. the bank's other income rose 168.38 per cent to rs 282.34 crore (rs 105.20 crore). the (non- annulaised) earnings per share worked out to rs 230.90 (rs 117.93). the net interest income was at rs. 316.17 crore.

syndicate bank h1 net up 51 pc
manipal: syndicate bank has announced 50.79 per cent increase in the net profit during the first half of the current fiscal ended september 2003; profit for the period stood at rs 216.45 crore as against rs 143.54 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year. the operating profit for the half-year ended september 30, 2003 has recorded an increase of 67.85 per cent over the corresponding period the previous year. it recorded an operating profit of rs 442.91 crore for the half-year ended september 30, 2003, whereas it was rs 265.80 crore for the corresponding period the previous year. addressing presspersons in manipal of udupi district on monday, michael bastian, chairman and managing director (cmd), said the board of the bank had taken a decision to pay interim dividend at 10 per cent subject to approval of the reserve bank of india.

he attributed the increase in the profit to the rs 5,800 crore business conducted in the last year, and added that reduced cost of deposits had substantially added to the profit. the interest margin of the bank is one of the highest among the peer group banks even in the lower interest regime. he said that the global business of the bank reached rs 49,443 crore at the end of september 2003. the domestic deposits have increased by 12.53 per cent and the domestic advanced by 15.84 per cent over september 2002. bastian said the capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.4 per cent against 11.03 per cent as on march 2003. he said the net npa had come down to 4.89 per cent from 5.64 per cent on september 30, 2002.

union bank q2 net rises to rs 170 cr
mumbai: a sixty-five per cent jump in non-interest income has helped union bank of india to earn 82.80 per cent growth in net profit in the second quarter of this fiscal. the net profit has zoomed to rs 170 crore for the second quarter ended september 30, as compared to rs 93 crore in the same period the previous year. non-interest income of the bank constitutes commission earnings, treasury profits, forex earnings and other service charges, according to v. leeladhar, chairman and managing director, union bank of india. the bank's operating profit grew to rs 329 crore during this period (rs 280 crore) interest income has risen to rs 1,082 crore (rs 1,056 crore). total expenditure of the bank was at rs 956 crore (rs 899 crore). for the half year ended september 30, 2003, the bank's net profit grew by 57 per cent to touch rs 325.75 crore as compared to rs 207.27 crore in the previous year period. treasury profits for the half-year were at rs 138 crore (rs 51 crore). deposits have touched rs 46,761 crore as on september 30, 2003 (rs 41,760). advances have grown to rs 27,653 crore (rs 23,695 crore).

priority sector advances of the bank at the end of the half-year stood at rs 11,990 crore (rs 9,270 crore). retail advances grew to rs 5,564 crore (rs 4,151 crore). the ratio of net npa to net advances has improved to 4.39 per cent (5.74 per cent). cash recoveries in the first half were at rs 361 crore. provisions and contingencies during the half year, were at rs 292.74 crore (rs 293.23 crore). the bank had already started implementing the 90-day norm for npas prescribed by the rbi, from the first quarter of this financial year, said mr leeladhar.capital adequacy ratio of the bank has risen to 13.34 per cent in september 2003, as compared to 11.44 per cent in september 2002.

20 october 2003

sbi opens specialised housing finance branch
bangalore: state bank of india (sbi) has opened a specialised housing finance branch here, the second such in india, to cater to the tech-savvy city's growing need for housing finance.
the branch can cater to loan requests from all parts of the city and started off with loans sanctioned to six people, totalling more than rs 100 lakh. the branch also enables anywhere, anytime banking.

canara bank opens branch in pettah
thiruvananthapuram: union minister of state for defence and parliamentary affairs o rajagopal inaugurated the pettah branch of canara bank, its 242nd in the kerala division. an atm facility will be set up soon at the new branch, which is fully computerised.
the branch will specialise in housing and home improvement loans, finance for four- and two-wheelers and customised products for traders and doctors, apart from other retail lending schemes. the inaugural ceremony was attended by b k shekhar, director, canara bank; g umesh shenoy, general manager (circle office), thiruvananthapuram; k gopalakrishnan, deputy general manager; m v shenoy, assistant general manager (regional office), kollam; and g ravindran, assistant general manager (circle office).

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