Rupee remains steady
Mumbai: The rupee on Wednesday closed steady at 45.3450/3500 in its value against the dollar on account of active intervention by the central bank, said forex dealers. The domestic currency had opened at Tuesday's closing level of 45.3500/3550.

The market witnessed good supplies of the dollar and amidst no corporate demand for the greenback, it was mopped up by the RBI, said a forex dealer in a private bank. The intra-day high was 45.3575, while the intra-day low was 45.3325.
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LIC Housing net profit up at Rs 45 crore
Mumbai: LIC Housing Finance has reported a 9.4 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 45.23 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2003 against Rs 41.34 crore during the corresponding year-ago quarter.

The board of directors has given its approval to enhance the equity capital by issuing 10 million equity shares by way of private placement or through a GDR offering. It is in the process of finalising the structure of the issue, according to a news release from LIC Housing Finance. The net profit increase was on account of lower expenses as well as deferred tax asset.
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IOB net profit up 57%
Chennai: Indian Overseas Bank has achieved a higher net profit of Rs 435.41 crore for the first nine months of the current year, compared with Rs 277.87 crore in the corresponding period of last year — a rise of 56.76 per cent.

Net credit increased during the nine-month period by Rs 1,848 crore compared with Rs 1,798 crore in the corresponding period last year. Operating profit increased to Rs 959.30 crore, up 61 per cent from Rs 596.46 crore previously. IOB chairman and managing director S C Gupta said 64 per cent of the operating profit came from the bank's "core operations" — lending. He said the bank's dependence on other income, mainly income from treasury operations, had been coming down.
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Dena Bank Q3 net up at Rs 71.85 crore
Mumbai: Dena Bank Ltd has recorded a 186.94 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 71.85 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2003 compared to a net profit of Rs 25.04 crore for the corresponding period in the previous year. Total income of the bank during this period has increased to Rs 584.67 crore (Rs 532.08 crore), said a press release. Interest income has gone up to Rs 444.44 crore (Rs 422.86 crore).

Non-Interest income is at Rs 140.23 crore ( Rs 109.22 crore). Interest expended has gone down to Rs 306.19 crore (Rs 278.74 crore). Capital adequacy ratio of the bank is now at 8.64 per cent (6.02 per cent).
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RBI says FDI inflow slowed during last fiscal
Mumbai: Inflows of foreign direct investment have slowed down in 2002-03 in tune with the global scenario while Indian investments overseas in recent years have increased significantly reflecting the global outreach of Indian companies, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

While the cumulative FDI in the country has been over $30 billion over the period 1990-91 to 2002-03, the actual investment outflows during the financial year 2002-03 alone were placed at $654 million, as compared with outflows of $469 million during 2001-02, according to RBI's report on Currency and Finance, 2002-03. In fact, during April-November 2003, outflows amounted to $702 million. The report observes that although both India and China received large flows in the 1990s, FDI flows to China are ten times of that in respect of India.
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RBI says inflation will not attain downward bias
Mumbai: Notwithstanding the fact that the Reserve Bank of India maintains its inflation forecast range of 4-4.5 per cent, the downward bias "may not be attainable,'' said RBI's recently published, Report on Currency & Finance 2002-03. According to the report, the uncertainty of global oil prices and likelihood of rising inflation in many advanced countries could lead to higher inflation in India.

The RBI's mid-term policy review in November 2003 had indicated an inflation forecast of 4-4.5 per cent with a downward bias. However, the inflation rate has been rising steadily in recent months and the point-to-point inflation rate was at 6.1 per cent in the first week of January. According to the report, the magnitude of price rise in the past two months has been above the original expectations. This increase in inflation appears to be mainly on account of rise in prices of crude oil, cotton textiles and oil seeds.
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