SBP targets Rs 450-crore net profit in 2003-2004
New Delhi: The State Bank of Patiala (SBP) has projected a 40 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 450 crore in this fiscal, having registered a Rs 322-crore profit in 2002-03. The capital adequacy ratio has risen to 13.57 per cent last fiscal from 12.55 per cent in 2001-02. “Our roadmap is that in all parameters, we want to achieve global standards. We are targeting a 40 per cent growth in net profit, 30 per cent growth in business and less than 1.0 per cent non-performing asset (NPA) ratio this fiscal,” SBP managing director AK Das said here on Monday. SBP posted a 38 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 322.02 crore during the fiscal against Rs 232.94 crore in 2001-02. It has decided to offer a hefty dividend of 110 per cent. SBP is also targeting a 30 per cent growth in business at over Rs 37,000 crore, Das said. SBP’s business in 2002-03 stood at Rs 29,000 crore. Deposits rose 28 per cent to Rs 17,585 crore and advances 23 per cent to Rs 11,120 crore last fiscal.
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Maharashtra govt files writ petition against DRT move
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Monday filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the Debt Recovery Tribunal’s (DRT) move to attach the immovable properties of the state government in Pune and its two accounts maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the State Bank of India (SBI) to recover Rs 91 crore dues from six spinning mills in the cooperative sector. The petition would come up for a mention before the division bench led by the chief justice on Tuesday. DRT had acted upon the petition filed by the financial institutions. RBI has not remitted any money from its accounts till the high court order. The state textile secretary AP Sinha told that the government has argued that attachment on Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) can be made only under the authority of legislature. The government has claimed that the DRT’s move was not only irresponsible but also illconsidered. The government has questioned the very propriety of DRT’s action. A section of the state government termed the DRT action as “political and sensational.”
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Jammu and Kashmir Bank net up 30 per cent
New Delhi: With an increase of 30 per cent in its net profit to Rs 338 crore for 2002-03, Jammu and Kashmir Bank has declared a 60 per cent dividend. Its total income rose by over 6 per cent to Rs 1,714.56 crore in 2002-03 as compared to Rs 1610.86 crore in the previous year. Aggregate deposits grew by almost 14 per cent to Rs 14,674.9 crore as on March 31, 2003, against Rs 12,911.11 crore in 2001-02. Capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.48 per cent in 2002-03, much higher than the RBI mandated 9 per cent and the capital and reserves grew by around 33 per cent to Rs 1,242 crore in the last fiscal compared to Rs 937 crore in 2001-02. The bank was able to contain its net non-performing assets to 1.58 per cent of net advances and aims at lowering it to below 1 per cent in this fiscal
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IRDA directive on commission to boost brokerage industry
Hyderabad: In a move that was expected to provide a major impetus to the brokerage segment of the Rs 15,000-crore Indian insurance industry, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has directed the insurers on Monday to stop providing the five per cent brokerage commission directly to their clients. As a result of this, the clients would now prefer to approach the insurers only through the insurance brokers wherein they would get the professional services of brokers free-of-cost.
Even through the public sector entities, with a size of around Rs 7,500 crore, still permitted to offer five per cent brokerage directly to their clients, the brokerage industry would be now left with a volume of around Rs 7,500 crore, enabling them to earn brokerage of over Rs 900 crore.
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HDFC Bank plans to add 100 branches
Mumbai: HDFC Bank Ltd plans to increase its branch network by 100 branches over the next two years and stage a 25 per cent growth in its balance sheet. In the current financial year, the bank plans to increase the number of branches from 237 to 290, said Mr Jagdish Capoor, part-time Chairman, HDFC Bank, at the annual general meeting held here on Monday. In the previous year, the branch network of the bank grew from 171 to 231 outlets, while the ATM network increased from 479 to 732.
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ICICI Prudential Life to double agents force
Chennai: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Ltd intends to double its fleet of 18,500-odd financial advisors (agents), in the next 12 months. So large is the potential for life insurance in India that ``we could have half a million agents and we still would not have scratched the surface,'' Bill Lisle, chief agency officer, ICICI Prudential, said. Lisle said the company was on a ``pretty big recruitment drive'' right now. About 70 per cent of ICICI Prudential's premium income (Rs 364 crore) last year came from the financial advisors, who include self-employed professionals, housewives, retired people and students too. ICICI Prudential has so far sold 246,827 policies for a sum assured of Rs 8,700 crore.
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LIC beginning to feel the heat
Hyderabad: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the public sector life insurance major, has suffered an all-round fall in its business performance for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003. The issue assumes significance in the backdrop of the new entrants coping well with the challenges of setting up operations, building up the agent force and spreading to rural and semi-urban areas and at the end of the fiscal, thereby garnering a market share of 8 per cent as against 2 per cent in the previous fiscal. According to the latest life premium amounts announced by the insurance regulator, LIC recorded a negative growth of 23.58 per cent.
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Royal Sundaram premium income jumps to Rs 184 cr
Chennai: Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Ltd earned a premium income of Rs 184 crore in 2002-03, compared to Rs 71 crore in the year before. According to a press release, the company's personal insurance premium has increased threefold to Rs 98.8 crore from Rs 30 crore achieved in the previous year. Royal Sundaram's portfolio consists of over 3,00,000 policyholders and over 2 million lives covered, the release says. The introduction of the Cashless Health Insurance policy has been extremely well received by both corporates as well as individuals. According to Royal Sundaram, the company was the first to introduce cash-less health cover in India, with Medicare as its third party administrator.
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State Bank of Indore net jumps 60 pc
Mumbai: State Bank of Indore has recorded a 60.13-per cent jump in net profit for the fiscal 2002-03 at Rs 200.32 crore as compared to Rs 125.10 crore recorded in the previous year. The net worth improved to Rs 583.66 crore (Rs 412.60 crore) and the capital adequacy has gone up to 13.9 per cent (12.78 per cent), said a press release. Deposits increased to Rs 9,216.81 crore during the year ( Rs 7,918.45 crore). Net advances went up to Rs 5,182.95 crore (Rs 4,284.99 crore), the release said. Advances to priority sectors increased by Rs 540.69 crore to Rs 2,410.80 crore, forming 46.47 per cent of net bank credit. Gross NPAs came down to Rs 295.25 crore (Rs 320.10 crore). The ratio of net NPAs to net advances came down to 2.66 pc (3.58).
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