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BoB
allots Rs 3,000 crore for infrastructure projects
Kolkata: Bank of Baroda has allotted around Rs
3,000 crore for investment in infrastructure projects.
The bank sees more such allotments for infrastructure
in future, said P.S. Shenoy, CMD, while addressing members
of Merchants Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. The bank
chief also sees the presence of many positive "macro
factors" - the Government's focus on infrastructure
development, large foreign exchange reserves and expectations
of GDP growth. "There is substantial liquidity in
the system at this juncture and there is pressure on interest
rates to move southwards," Shenoy said. He, however,
observed that credit offtake was still quite slow.
The banking system was warming up to the realisation that
there may be a convergence of rates prevalent in domestic
and international markets. Bank of Baroda was also rolling
out a major overseas expansion, Mr Shenoy said, referring
to its plans for countries such as China, New Zealand
and Singapore, where representative offices would be set
up. Further, there will be a new subsidiary in Tanzania,
which will strengthen the bank's presence in African nations.
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ING
Vysya to foray into pension market
Visakhapatnam: ING Vysya Life Insurance wants to
enter and develop the pension market in the country on
a substantial scale, once the regulations are finalised.
A separate company may also be floated, if necessary,
according to Yvo Metzelaar, managing director and CEO.
Speaking to newspersons on Wednesday, he said that the
pension market was in a very nascent stage in India, but
in 27 countries across the world the ING group was a major
player in the pension segment.
The company had so far covered 60,000 lives and earned
premium income of Rs 43 crore. "We are concentrating
on providing quality service with a range of eight products
and several add-on services. We will attempt to tap the
rural markets in coastal Andhra Pradesh,'' he said. India
has succeeded in opening up the insurance sector without
too many hassles and the Insurance Regulatory Authority
was functioning well on the whole."However, the distribution
channels have to be streamlined and there are too many
restrictive clauses on commissions for comfort,'' he said.
LIC would continue to be the dominant player in the market,
but ING Vysya would strive to capture at least 15 per
cent of the total market held by private life insurers,
he added.
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IDBI
Bank Q2 net up 125%
Chennai: IDBI Bank reported a 125-per cent growth
in net profit at Rs 36.19 crore for the quarter ended
September 30, 2003. The profits were driven by a 20-per
cent growth in interest income at Rs 174.66 crore and
a 109-per cent growth in other income at Rs 65.5 crore
for this quarter. The growth in profits came despite a
jump in loan loss provisions of Rs 20 crore in this quarter
compared to Rs 5 crore in the corresponding quarter of
the previous year. The bank maintained its net interest
margin at 3.1 per cent. Retail loans, mainly housing,
proved to be the main driver for asset growth. The housing
loan portfolio of the bank grew by nearly Rs 450 crore
in this quarter to touch a level of Rs 2,143 crore. The
bank's deposits grew by Rs 421 crore during the quarter
to Rs 6,657 crore as at the end of September 2003. The
bank's capital adequacy ratio at 8.22 per cent continued
to be below the regulatory minimum of 9 per cent. IDBI
Bank has a rights issue that is on currently to raise
Rs 154 crore to address the issue.
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South
Indian Bank lifeline for patients
Coimbatore: South Indian Bank has launched a financial
assistance programme for medical treatment - SIB Lifeline.
The scheme covers all major ailments and surgical corrections,
V.A. Paul, regional head, said,the bank had signed an
MoU with the management of certain hospitalsThis would
not prevent the patient from availing themselves of loan
from the bank if they chose some other hospital. "In
the unfortunate event of the patient dying within seven
days of the surgery, the loan amount disbursed in such
cases would be re-imbursed to the bank by United India,
as per the special arrangement concluded by the bank for
this scheme,." he said.
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Bank
of Rajasthan Q2 profit rises 125%
Mumbai: With a jump in other income, private sector
and lower cost of funds, Bank of Rajasthan has posted
a 125 per cent growth in its net profit for the second
quarter ended September 30, 2003 at Rs 34.91 crore, up
from Rs 15.53 crore for the corresponding period of the
previous year.
Other income went up 63 per cent to Rs 57.07 crore (Rs
34.88 crore). Total income increased to Rs 177.38 crore
(Rs 149.31 crore) and total expenditure increased to Rs
123.13 crore (Rs 108.83 crore). Said the bank's chairman,
P.K. Tayal, at a press conference here, "The bank
has seen growth in all areas and we have been able to
reduce our cost of deposits to 5.72 per cent from 6.83
per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.''The
bank, which has adopted the 90-day norm in provisioning
but not in NPA recognition, has seen its net NPAs decrease
a tad to 8 per cent which works out to Rs 158 crore. Gross
NPAs increased to 14 per cent and works out to Rs 301
crore. As on June 2003, the net NPAs were Rs 165 crore
while gross NPAs was lower at Rs 293 crore.
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Federal
Bank opens branch in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram: Federal Bank will open 23 more
branches across the country during this financial year,
which will help it achieve the goal of becoming a fully
computerised and networked banking behemoth with 450 branches.
This was stated here by K.P. Padmakumar, chairman, while
delivering the presidential address at the inaugural ceremony
of the 427th branch at Cotton Hill here. According to
him, Federal Bank has already implemented world-class
banking services such as anywhere banking and Internet
banking. It has also distinguished itself by being able
to open the maximum number of rural ATMs centres in the
State. It has always strove to reach the benefits of technology
to the rural masses. The fully computerised branch at
Cotton Hill was inaugurated by K.P. Hormese Tharakan,
director-general of Police, Kerala.
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Centurion
signs agreement with Navy
New Delhi: Centurion Bank Ltd has tied up with
the India Navy to disburse salary on behalf of the naval
staff across the country. In addition, Centurion would
also offer several value-added services in toto to the
naval staff as part of the understanding.
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Kotak
group not to seek strategic investor now
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Bank has registered a 67
per cent growth in net profit for the second quarter ended
September 30, 2003 at Rs 19.84 crore, up from Rs 11.88
crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
These figures are not strictly comparable since the NBFC
was converted into a bank in March 2003. The new bank
will focus on lending as the thrust area and foresees
40 per cent growth in disbursements by the year-end. The
net profit of the Kotak group - Kotak Mahindra Capital
Co, Kotak Securities, Kotak Mahindra Primus, Kotak Mahindra
AMC & Trustee, Om Kotak Mahindra - for the second
quarter is at Rs 38.94 crore (Rs 21.77 crore). The bank
has collected fresh deposits of Rs 650 crore in the first
half year, 90 per cent of which are term deposits.
Apart from this, it also has liabilities such as Rs 150
crore of fixed deposits transferred from the NBFC, Rs
350 crore of certificates of deposits and so on. The bank
has advances of Rs 1,550 crore, 85 per cent of which is
retail. The break up of advances is as follows: commercial
vehicle finance Rs 875 crore, personal loans Rs 238 crore,
home loans Rs 25 crore, corporate loans Rs 236 crore and
SME and miscellaneous Rs 175 crore. The bank with a networth
of Rs 580 crore can double its asset base without raising
fresh capital and has a capital adequacy as high as 19.55
per cent, said Mr Uday Kotak, Executive Vice-Chairman
& MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank at a press conference here
today. The Kotak group, which hold about 63 per cent stake
in the bank is not looking for a strategic investor at
present. The bank has seen significant FII interest in
its stock; FII holding increased to 14.8 per cent from
3.4 per cent in March 2003.
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