Tata AIG's insurance package for the rural poor
Hyderabad: Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd has announced the launch of 'Project Micro-Insurance' for alleviating poverty among the landless daily-waged rural poor in Andhra Pradesh. The rural insurance initiative is being financially supported by the Financial Deepening Challenge Fund (FDCF), set up by the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID). In India, the fund is currently operational only in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. With a corpus of £18 million, the fund is working in 14 countries in South Asia and Africa and has committed over £12 million to 20 projects in 10 countries. This is the first of the eight projects sanctioned in India.

The fund provides matching financial assistance to profit-oriented sound business organisations operating in the financial services sector. It provides support to that strata of society which was previously denied access to any kind of formal financial products and services. Deloitte Haskins & Sells has been appointed to provide certain services for implementation of the fund in India. Tata AIG's rural insurance initiative has culminated in the signing of a contract on a matching-funds basis with the fund managers of FDCF, Enterplan International (UK), represented in India by Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, for micro-insuring the lives of landless daily-waged rural poor in Andhra Pradesh, a press release said.
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IndusInd posts Rs 25 crore net profit in Q1
Mumbai: IndusInd Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 24.64 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2003. This is not comparable with the first quarter of the previous year, since these figures include the results of IndusInd Enterprises & Finance Ltd (IEFL), which was amalgamated with the bank. The profits are attributed to the lower cost of funds attained due to the retail thrust of the bank and to profits from IEFL. "We plan to continue our retail focus," said Bhaskar Ghose, managing director, IndusInd Bank. The cost of funds of the bank stands reduced to 6.81 per cent at the end of first quarter from 8.30 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Net interest margin of the bank has improved to 2.22 per cent (1.96 per cent). While interest earned has fallen to Rs 162.31 crore (Rs 181.99 crore), other income gained marginally to Rs 60.89 crore (Rs 57.92 crore), interest expended has fallen to Rs 134.60 crore (Rs 168.13 crore). Total income decreased to Rs 223.20 crore (Rs 239.91 crore) and so did total expenditure to Rs 164.08 crore (Rs 192.35 crore). The bank, with the regulator's permission, has carried out accelerated provisioning of Rs 92.19 crore in order to make the transition in NPA recognition from the 180-day norm to 90-day norm more gradual.
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Magma Leasing to raise disbursements by 50%
Kolkata: Magma Leasing Ltd has said it will increase its total disbursements by 50 per cent during the current financial year. “In 2002-03 we disbursed Rs 509 crore and our target for the current fiscal is Rs 750 crore,” company managing director Sanjay Chamria said. He said around 40 per cent of the targeted disbursement of Rs 750 crore will come from commercial vehicles financing sector: “The passenger car finance segment will contribute to around 35 per cent and the remaining 25 per cent will go to construction equipment financing.”
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Crisil gives AA+ rating on IDBI bonds, CDs
Mumbai: The Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil) has placed AA+ rating on Industrial Development Bank of India’s (IDBI) outstanding bonds and certificate of deposits (CDs) programme on ‘rating watch’ with developing implications. This follows the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on finance on the IDBI (Transfer of Undertaking And Repeal Bill 2002). However, the ratings on the fixed deposit and short-term debt programmes have been reaffirmed at the highest levels of ‘FAAA’ and ‘P1+’ respectively as Crisil expects the implementation of the standing committee’s recommendations to positively impact IDBI’s credit risk profile.

The standing committee on finance recently made recommendations to facilitate IDBI’s conversion into a banking company by providing it with certain benefits and exemptions. Crisil says that the passage of the Bill would clarify the nature of these benefits and exemptions that would be awarded to IDBI in view of these recommendations. These clarifications include the time period and quantum of benefits that would be made available with respect to: regulatory forbearance on the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR), income tax exemptions, reinstatement of capital gains tax exemptions for IDBI’s borrowing programmes and the recommendations made by the standing committee that the government should make provisions, which will ensure that GoI’s shareholding in IDBI does not come below 51 per cent.
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ICRA gives CIFCL issue conditional highest safety rating
New Delhi: ICRA has assigned a conditional highest safety MAAA (SO) rating to the Rs 55.82-crore securitisation issue of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance (CIFCL). ICRA said the rating is based on the sale of identified hp/loan contracts to a special purpose vehicle, the strength of cash flows from the selected pool of contracts, the credit enhancement mechanism and the integrity of legal structure.

The MAAA (SO) has been assigned to the senior pass through certificates issued under the securitisation programme of Rs 55.82 crore, originated by CIFCL. ICRA, however, noted that the collection efficiency of CIFCL was on the decline and it was partly due to its entry into new business segments like two-wheeler finance, where the collection performance was yet to stabilise. “However, this does not form a part of the current pool,” ICRA said.
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