29 november 2003

dewan housing to raise rs 60 crore via securitisation
mumbai: dewan housing finance corporation ltd (dhfl) proposes to raise around rs 60 crore to rs 65 crore through a securitisation deal by december 2003. although the details have yet to be finalised, kapil wadhawan, managing director, dhfl, said the funds raised will be used for onward lending to the company's borrowers.

dhfl expects a growth of 50-60 per cent this year, and this is excluding the recent acquisition of ing vysya bank's housing arm, now re-christened `dhfl vysya housing finance'. dhfl now holds a 53 per cent stake in its subsidiary, dhfl vysya housing finance, and the promoters hold the remaining equity, wadhawan said. "the south has always been a desired market for us because the credit culture there has been good. this acquisition consolidates our position in the south and enhances our distribution leverage," he said.

amadeus joins hands with cholamandalam finance
new delhi: the global distribution system provider, amadeus, has tied up with cholamandalam finance to offer online travel insurance solutions. the agreement allows cholamandalam to offer its complete range of travel products and solutions, including medical expenses, medical repatriation, delay or loss of checked baggage, loss of passport, personal accident, hospital expenses, personal liability and financial emergency through the amadeus system that will be accessed by a travel agent.

the travel agent, in turn, will be able to provide the traveller a travel insurance policy as well as a detailed package of air, car rentals and/or hotel bookings. amadeus already offers travel insurance policies in india with tata aig and bajaj allianz. the travel agents, licensed by cholamandalam to provide insurance, will be given product training by amadeus. they will then be required to select the travel product offered on amadeus and provide mandatory information such as details about the trip duration, date of birth, mailing address, emergency contact, passport number, and beneficiary's details for a particular passenger.

andhra bank board meet for interim
hyderabad: andhra bank has informed the stock exchanges that the meeting of its board of directors would be held on december 6 to consider a proposal for declaration of interim dividend for the financial year 2003-04.

hsbc to cut about a third of equities jobs
london: global bank hsbc holdings plc said on thursday it would cut about a third of its equities staff worldwide as it unveiled its strategy for investment banking. hsbc has 1,450 equities staff and that number will shrink to less than 1,000 by february, co-head of investment banking stuart gulliver told analysts at a presentation. the bank is shedding people as it shifts equities away from acting for clients towards trading on its own balance sheet, he said.

"this review of the equities business is current and will continue through to january or february," gulliver said. "there will be more reorganisation and restructuring taking place in research and sales," he added. the bank has cut between 100 and 200 equities staff since september in europe and the united states, gulliver said. some of the remaining staff will be new hires, he added. hsbc makes about a third of its profit from investment and corporate banking but in recent years has had a low profile, causing some analysts to question chairman sir john bond's commitment to the business. most equities and corporate finance staff got no bonus for 2001, causing unrest and departures.

28 november 2003

lord krishna bank h1 net at rs 10 crore
kochi: lord krishna bank has posted a net profit of rs 10.25 crore at the end of the first half of this fiscal compared to rs 9.19 crore during the same period last year. bank managing director r m nayak said the bank had registered a 11.53 per cent jump in net profit in spite of the expenses for branch expansion and technology upgrading. the bank's total business was more than rs 2,500 crore at the end of the first half.

the bank's net worth which stood at rs 119.28 crore during the first half of the last fiscal was now at rs 131.53 crore against the rbi benchmark of rs 100 crore. the crar at the end of the first half was 15.75 per cent compared to 12.82 at the end of the last fiscal. the total deposits of the bank grew to rs 1,790 crore compared to rs 1,449 crore last year. total advances went up from rs 666 crore to rs 740 crore. despite the declining interest rate scenario, the net interest income as percentage to average working funds had increased from 0.51 per cent to 0.62. other income had shown a growth of 48.34 per cent.

catholic syrian bank has a new logo
kochi: as a part of its brand-building exercise, thrissur-based catholic syrian bank (csb) has introduced a new logo and a corporate image. the logo, which was unveiled at thrissur by kerala and lakshadweep banking ombudsman v krishnamurthy, was part of the 84th foundation day celebrations of the bank. bank chairman n r achan said the new logo is to create a new image for the bank and instil the feelings of dynamism and optimism among the bank staff.

about the logo, he said that it had curves, which formed the 'c, s and b' and was designed to communicate harmony, stability and continuity. the design could also be seen as a ripple effect to progress. there was an intentional effort not to make it symmetrical and thus stagnant, he added. about future plans, he said that the bank, which has 293 branches, will expand it to 300 by year-end. it has 15 online atms and another 35 were under installation. it also has a deposit of rs 3,506 crore at the end of the first half of this fiscal and advances were to the tune of rs 1,471 crore.

bank officers' stir over wage revision
mumbai: the bank officers' association will hold country-wide demonstrations on 4 and 11 december against the "lackadaisical and lukewarm" approach of the indian banks association (iba) towards resolving the differences on the issues of wage and allowance revision. they will also observe a daylong strike and the date will be finalised in consultation with workmen unions.
a decision on this was taken jointly by the all india bank officers' association (aiboa), all india bank officers' confederation (aiboc), indian national bank officers' congress (inboc) and national organisation of bank officers (nobo), said a press release on thursday. "there is an inordinate delay in resolving the issues viz, income tax on perks, increment distortion, non-revision of halting allowance, hospitalisation expenses etc. the response from the iba is far from satisfactory," the release said.