Birla Sun Life premium zooms 385 per cent to Rs 170 crore
Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd (BSLI) has reported a 385 per cent rise in annualised premium at Rs 170 crore in 2002-03 powered by the unit-linked plans even as the entity is to infuse further Rs 20 crore capital in the current fiscal. “We sold 65,000 individual life policies (16,000 in FY-02) with an annualised premium totalling Rs 126 crore,” BSLI chief executive officer Nani Javeri told newspersons here on Tuesday and added that sales of single premium bond contributed to less than one per cent of total sales. Nearly 95 per cent of the company’s annualised premium was achieved through sale of unit-linked plans, he said. In FY-04, the company plans to sell 1,80,000 policies with corresponding annualised premium of Rs 450 crore. BSLI also plans to set up 11 branches in 11 cities in this period, he said.
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Home loans up despite huge prepayments
Mumbai: The Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil) has said that the housing finance sector comprising housing finance companies (HFC) and banks has managed a real growth rate of 36 per cent in terms of its outstanding portfolio between April and December 2002. “This is despite the high prepayments faced by HFCs during this period. While disbursements grew 54 per cent between April-December 2002, prepayments accounted for a significant 12-14 per cent of outstanding loans for HFCs, resulting in a portfolio growth of 36 per cent. Were it not for these prepayments, the portfolio would have grown 43 per cent. The prepayments have been driven by borrowers switching loans from one HFC to another to take advantage of the declining yield curve. This trend has been precipitated largely by the aggressive marketing efforts of lenders,” Crisil said. Crisil has outstanding ratings on 13 HFCs and 22 banks.
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IFCI’s first property seizure is Arihant Ind EOU at Baddi
New Delhi: IFCI Ltd has taken over the spinning export oriented unit (EOU) of Arihant Industries Ltd in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, the first property seizure by IFCI, officials said. The action was taken under the Securitisation & Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SRFA & ESIA), 2002. According to IFCI, Arihant Industries — promoted by K L Jain — had been sanctioned financial assistance by them in the lead, along with other financial institutions (FI) like the Industrial Development Bank of India, UTI, SBIMF, CanBank Mutual Fund and was also extended interest-free loan by the Punjab government. The company has four units engaged in the production of worsted yarn at Secunderabad, Bulandshahar, UP, texturised yarn and grey fabrics and grey and dyed fabrics at Ludhiana (two units) and cotton and polyester viscose yarn at Baddi.
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UTI Bank ’02-03nNet profit rises 43 per cent to Rs192.18 crore
Mumbai: UTI Bank on Tuesday announced a 43.27 per cent growth in its net profit to Rs 192.18 crore for the fiscal 2002-03 as against Rs 134.14 crore in the preceding fiscal. The earning per share (diluted) for 2002-03 was at Rs 9.97 as compared to Rs 9.31 in 2001-02. The board has recommended 22 per cent dividend for the fiscal 2002-03. During the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2003, the bank recorded a 43.91 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 60.53 crore, as compared to Rs 42.06 crore in the corresponding period of the fiscal 2001-02.
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Sundaram Home net doubles
Chennai: Sundaram Home Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of Sundaram Finance Ltd, made a net profit of Rs 4.47 crore for the year ended March 31, 2003, compared to Rs 2.05 crore in the previous year. The company was able to add 9,000 customers last year.
The company started operations in January 2000. Its cumulative sanctions amount to Rs 650 crore, made to around 16,000 borrowers. Last year, the total sanctions were for Rs 356 crore (up 83 per cent) and disbursement Rs 237 crore (up 53 per cent).
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SBI Home Fin may cease to exist
Mumbai: SBI Home Finance is being wound up, with the State Bank of India (SBI) deciding to take the hit while writing off losses.
The housing company is not a subsidiary of SBI though SBI and SBI Caps together hold 25 per cent stake, with HDFC having 15 per cent to its name. LIC and other insurance companies hold around 30 per cent, with the rest being held by the public. Winding-up details are not yet out even as top officials in SBI confirm the development. Around this time last year, SBI Home Finance had stopped lending operations with efforts focussed on recoveries.
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Aviva Life may cover self-help groups
Chennai: Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) proposes to market specially designed products of Aviva Life Insurance to the members of self-help groups (SHGs) based in Andhra Pradesh. LVB, the Karur-based scheduled commercial bank, had earlier entered into an alliance with Aviva Life Insurance, a joint venture between Dabur group and the UK-based CGU, to market Aviva products as a corporate agent with the clearance of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. The bank had taken up corporate agency arrangement under the bancassurance model with Aviva Life with the approval of the Reserve Bank of India.
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Indian Bank readying for initial offer after July ’04
New Delhi: Well out of the black, public sector Indian Bank plans an initial public offer (IPO) after July 2004, chairperson and managing director Ranjana Kumar told newspersons here on Tuesday. Kumar had earlier made a presentation to the banking division on the restructuring and revival of the bank that was deep in the red till 1999-2000. For the last financial year, it has registered a net profit of Rs 189 crore, up 468 per cent. In the three years of restructuring (April 2000-March 2003), the bank clocked a 73.70 per cent growth in deposits to Rs 8,362 crore and 87.17 per cent in savings bank deposits to Rs 2,641 crore. Non-food credit rose 363.95 crore to Rs 2,728 crore while investment increased 82.55 per cent to Rs 2,792 crore, she said.
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ICICI Lombard may double cap base to fund expansion
New Delhi: ICICI Lombard General Insurance may soon double its capital base to Rs 220 crore to fund its expansion plans. It clocked a net profit of Rs 3.3 crore net profit in the last fiscal,” head of marketing Kartik Jain said at the launch of an alliance with Galileo India here on Tuesday. The company logged Rs 215 crore premium income in 2002-03 mainly from commercial line of business including fire, engineering, marine and group medical schemes, Jain said. It is now turning to retail business in a big way, starting with an individual health insurance scheme. It is eyeing 5-7 per cent of the Rs 200-crore travel insurance market in the first year, or about Rs 10-15 crore in the first year, he added.
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