Top rating for Hudco’s bond programme
Mumbai: Fitch has assigned a ‘AAA(ind) (so)’ rating to the Rs 5,960 crore 2003-04 bond programme of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (Hudco). This rating, which indicates highest credit quality, has been assigned based on a letter of comfort dated 16 June 2003, by the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Government of India.

Icra says that the principal factor supporting the long-term rating is the letter of comfort, which recognises the social mandate of Hudco and the involvement of the Government of India in providing strategic direction and exercising control over the working of Hudco, in which it is the sole shareholder. The rating reflects Hudco’s critical role in implementing the developmental policies of the government in urban infrastructure and the support it has received through regular equity infusions in the past.
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SBM Q1 net profit spurts 90% to Rs 44.4 crore
Bangalore: State Bank of Mysore (SBM) has posted a net profit of Rs 44.42 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2003, registering a growth of 89.67 per cent compared to Rs 23.42 crore in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2002-03. Operating profit recorded a growth of 97 per cent at Rs 101.86 crore compared to Rs 51.72 crore in Q1 FY2004.

The total income increased to Rs 331.36 crore from Rs 297.26 crore in Q1 FY2003 registering a growth of 11.47 per cent. Total deposits during the period ended June 2003, reached Rs 9230 crore, a growth of 2.41 per cent over March 2003 levels. Total advances stood at Rs 5,522.61 crore. SBM has targeted to achieve an operating profit of Rs 440 crore and a net profit of Rs 180 crore by March 2004, aided by a growth of Rs 2,600 crore under deposits and Rs 2,000 crore under advances during the year.
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Five public sector banks share ATM network
Bangalore: Five public sector banks have jointly launched up a shared automatic teller machine (ATM) network in the country. The five banks are Syndicate Bank, Bank of India, Indian Bank, United Bank of India and Union Bank of India. Briefing presspersons here after launching the service branded `CashTree', Michael Bastin, chairman and managing director of Syndicate Bank, said the agreement would allow access to about 500 ATMs of all the banks put together.

This is expected to increase to about 1,000 ATMs during the year. But the system installed was scalable to about 3,000 ATMs covering the entire country, he said. The sharing of the network was being taken with a view to minimise costs and optimise the use of resources. The sharing was essential as a single ATM was equivalent to about five manual tellers, Bastian said.
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LIC Housing Q1 net at Rs 34 crore
Mumbai: LIC Housing Finance Ltd has recorded a net profit of Rs 33.95 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2003, compared with Rs 33.59 crore during the same period last year. The company's total income rose to Rs 230.04 crore (Rs 219.60 crore), said a press release. During this period, the amount sanctioned by the company was Rs 944.78 crore and disbursements amounted to Rs 921.21 crore, the release said. The outstanding mortgage portfolio as on June 30, 2003 was Rs 8,358.29 crore.
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Karur Vysya Q1 net up by 37%
Coimbatore: Karur Vysya Bank registered a 37-per cent jump in its net profit during the first quarter of the current fiscal when compared to the corresponding period of the earlier year. For the quarter ended June 30, 2003, its net profit increased by Rs 8.25 cr to Rs 30.35 cr (Rs 22.25 cr), after providing for NPA, taxes, pension, gratuity and depreciation on investments.

The operating profit soared to Rs 62.67 cr from Rs 35.58 cr in the corresponding period of the earlier fiscal, witnessing a 76-per cent increase. The total income grew by 23 per cent to touch Rs 181.12 cr (Rs 147.37 cr). The interest income rose by 31.49 per cent to Rs 166.79 cr (Rs 126.85 cr). The bank has reported a 23-per cent growth in deposits, which crossed the Rs 5,000-cr mark. Advances increased from Rs 2,503.37 cr in June 2002 to Rs 3,074.12 cr in June 2003, registering a 22.80 per cent rise.
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BoI net profit up by 15% in Q1
Mumbai: Bank of India has recorded a 15.25 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 204 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2003, as compared to a net profit of Rs 177 crore in the corresponding period, the previous year. "Treasury income has contributed significantly to the bank's bottomline,'' said a press release. Total income for the quarter has increased to Rs 1,771.82 crore from Rs 1,698.55 crore in the previous year. The operating profit grew to Rs 453 crore (Rs 379 crore). Domestic advances rose by 6.49 per cent to touch Rs 31,748 crore while foreign advances rose by 7.59 per cent to touch Rs 11,425 crore. Domestic deposits increased by 7.95 per cent to touch Rs 53,588 crore.

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank stood at 12.73 per cent (10.45 per cent). Net interest margin has increased to 2.79 per cent (2.65 per cent). Global gross NPA ratio increased to 9.13 per cent (9.06 per cent). The bank has ascribed this to `slower credit expansion in the quarter ended June 2003.' The global net NPA ratio has also gone up to 5.79 per cent (5.40 per cent). According to the release, the bank is holding floating provision to the extent of Rs 100 crore and this has not been taken into account while arriving at the NPA ratios. BOI has made additional provisions of Rs 60 crore, over and above the norms prescribed by RBI, in order to improve the coverage ratio during the quarter ended June 2003, the release said. Priority sector advances accounted for more than 49 per cent of domestic net credit and agricultural advances constituted more than 18 per cent.
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