8 may 2004

rupee unchanged
mumbai: the domestic currency closed at 44.66/67 in its value against the dollar on friday, unchanged from thursday's closing levels.
forwards market: the six-month forward ended at - 0.92 per cent (- 1.10 per cent) and the one-year forward closed at (-0.70).
g-secs: the 8.07 per cent 2017 paper went to a low of rs 124.50, while the 7.49 per cent 2017 fell to rs 118.05/10.
call rates: were at 4.25 per cent levels in the inter-bank market.

hdfc to go for external borrowings
mumbai: the housing development finance corporation (hdfc) will move an enabling resolution at its upcoming annual general meeting seeking shareholder permission for making external commercial borrowings. hdfc borrowed aggressively at lower rates last year raising rs 7,147 crore from commercial banks, rs 4,173 crore of which was under the priority sector category of the banks. refinance of rs 350 crore was obtained from national housing bank.

pnb goes live with rtgs
new delhi: punjab national bank (pnb) has announced that it has gone live with real time gross settlement (rtgs). introduction of rtgs would enable instant transfer of funds between banks and institutions. pnb has said that it would shortly extend the rtgs facility to its customers all over the country by integrating its centralised banking branch network and structured financial messaging system enabled branches with rtgs system.

sbm to pay 60 per cent
bangalore: state bank of mysore has reported a net profit of rs 176.38 crore for the year 2003-04, up by 52 per cent over the last fiscal. it has also recommended a 60 per cent dividend.

deposits stood at rs 10,860.47 crore in the last fiscal, up by 23.52 per cent over rs 8,792.71 crore in 2002-03. during the year, the bank's net interest income grew 17.53 per cent to touch rs 454.4 crore while non-interest income grew to rs 340.42 crore with sizeable contributions from the government and treasury business. gross npa has come down to rs 514.53 crore (7.76 per cent) and net npas declined to rs 186.38 crore (2.96 per cent).

hdfc to pay rs 13.5 as dividend
mumbai: housing development finance corporation has reported a 24.6 per cent increase in net profit, year-on-year, for the quarter ended march 31, 2004. net profit increased to rs 297.97 crore (rs 239.19 crore), while income from operations amounted to rs 824.31 crore (rs 789.17 crore). gross profit for the quarter, after interest but before depreciation and tax, rose 19.27 per cent, to rs 358.83 crore (rs 300.83 crore). hdfc's net profit for the year 2003-2004 rose 23 per cent to rs 851.78 crore (rs 690.29 crore).

income from operations stood at rs 3,068.76 crore (rs 2,967.32 crore). the board of directors of the company has recommended a dividend of rs 13.5 per share, higher than last year's dividend of rs 11 per share. hdfc's gross profit for the year amounted to rs 1,050 crore (rs 876.73 crore), while depreciation stood at rs 23.58 crore (rs 25.7 crore). profit before tax for the year amounted to rs 1,026.98 crore (rs 851.03 crore) while provision for tax stood at rs 175.2 crore (rs 160.74 crore) the non-performing asset level was at 0.89 per cent, marginally lower from last year's 0.91 per cent.

dena bank net npas decline
mumbai: the bank's net profit has jumped by 102 per cent for the financial year ended march 31, 2004, with its net profit for the fourth quarter ended march 31, 2004, at rs 58.39 crore against rs 77.16 crore in the corresponding period the previous year.

in the fourth quarter, a floating provision for npas to the tune of rs 50 crore was made along with a provision of rs 25 crore for standard assets. the ratio of net npas to net advances was at 9.40 per cent (11.83 per cent). net npas of the bank declined to rs 884.35 crore (rs 997.28 crore).

icici bank - ebony co-branded credit card
mumbai: icici bank ltd has announced the launch of icici bank ebony co-branded credit card in collaboration with ebony, a retail chain in north india. the icici bank-ebony co-branded card provides a customer 6 reward points for every rs 100 spent through the card to make a purchase at any one of the ebony outlets. the customer will be given an option to pay back the amount of purchases made in 3 equal monthly instalments if the amount of purchases made exceeds rs 2,500. these instalments will not include any financing charges.

7 may 2004

rupee firms up further
mumbai: the domestic currency closed at 44.64/67 in its value against the dollar on thursday, 3 paise higher than wednesday's closing levels at 44.70.
forward market: the six-month segment closed at - 1.10 per cent (-0.15 per cent) and the one-year segment ending at -0.70 per cent (-0.56 per cent).
g-secs: the 8.07 per cent 2017 opened at rs 125.10 and closed lower at rs 124.85, while the 7.37 per cent 2014 opened at 117.50 and fell to rs 117.40.
call rates remained at 4.25 per cent.

icra's bpo facility to be operational soon
new delhi: icra ltd has said that its business process outsourcing facility in kolkata will be operational by the month-end and that it will cater to the analytical and research-based requirements of diverse users. icra has roped in joydeep bhattacharya, head of the indian operations of research body zacks, to head the bpo venture.

gic gets aaa rating from care
mumbai: general insurance corporation of india (gic) has booked over rs 500 crore in profit on sale of investments in the past fiscal. according to the company, the company has earned returns of around 13-14 per cent on its investment corpus of rs 10,000 crore on a booked cost basis. meanwhile care has assigned a `triple a' rating to the claims-paying ability of gic.

the rating factors in gic's status in the insurance industry as the national reinsurer, its dominant market share in the indian reinsurance market, strong solvency position, low operating leverage and good profitability and liquidity, according to senior care officials. according to care the gic also draws strength from 100 per cent government ownership, the key role played by gic in increasing the retention of a large portion of reinsurance in india, and good prospects for growth in the insurance sector.

six lobs for bob
kolkata: with a view to becoming more customer-centric, the bank of baroda (bob) has unveiled a business transformation programme whereby it will draw its operation into six distinct units, called lines of business (lob), for the purpose of better customer segmentation. the corporate, business, personal and rural segments along with international operations and global treasury would each form a specific lob.