Rupee loses 5 paise
Mumbai: The rupee closed at 45.32/33 in its value against the dollar on Monday, weaker by about 5 paise as compared with Friday's close of 45.28.
Forwards Market: The six-month forward closed at - 0.70 per cent (-0.70 per cent), and the one-year forward closed at - 0.35 per cent (- 0.33 per cent).
G-Secs: The 8.07 per cent 2017 traded at about Rs 123.27/31. The 7.46 per cent 2017 paper closed at Rs.118.19/23. The 7.37 per cent 2014 paper traded lower at 116.80/83.
Call Rates: Steady at 4.25-4.50 per cent levels.
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Capital-indexed bonds may reappear
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has proposed reintroducing capital-indexed bonds (CIB) with inflation-linked returns to deepen the government securities market. According to a press release, the RBI released a discussion paper on the structure of this instrument on Monday. The instrument was first introduced in December 1997. The proposed CIB would offer inflation-linked returns on both the coupons and principal repayments at maturity.

According to the discussion paper, the Wholesale Price Index for all commodities released by the office of the Economic Advisor, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India, would be taken as the index for measuring the inflation rate for the proposed bonds. However, for the purpose of inflation protection, it would be the monthly average of WPI (average of weeks) and not the weekly one. Referring to the coupon, the RBI said interest on CIB would be payable on a semi-annual basis at a fixed real rate of interest throughout the tenure of the bonds. The fixed real rate of interest would be applied not to the par amount of the security but to the inflation-adjusted principal.
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RBI puts UCBs on notice regarding valuations
Mumbai: In a circular addressed to the chief executives of all primary (urban) co-operative banks, the Reserve Bank of India has cautioned them on unrealistically high valuations of property while granting mortgage loans. In a release the central bank has said that certain instances of housing loans granted against mortgage of house property, the value of which has been shown to be unrealistically high, has come to their notice. It has pointed out that the possibility of banks incurring a loss in the event of a need arising to recover the loan through disposal of the security was very high.
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Warburg Pincus to pick up stake in Max India
New Delhi: Private equity fund Warburg Pincus has decided to pick up 29 per cent stake in Max India Ltd by investing Rs 200 crore in the company. It will pick up 10 million equity shares of Rs 10 per share at an issue price of Rs 200 per share through the preferential route. This will take the total investment of Warburg Pincus in India to over $850 million, which includes investments in companies such as Bharti Tele-Ventures, Gujarat Ambuja, Moser Baer, Nicholas Piramal, Rediff and WNS Global Services.

Max has a presence in the life insurance business through its joint venture with New York Life - Max New York Life Insurance and healthcare business. As part of the restructuring Max India has exited its pharmaceuticals and medical transcription businesses focusing on its core businesses of life insurance and healthcare. However, the company continues to hold a 10 per cent stake in Hutchison Max Telecom, operating cellular telephony services in the Mumbai circle.
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Oriental Bank to pay 50 per cent dividend
New Delhi: Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has recorded a net profit of Rs 686 crore in 2003-04, a 50 per cent growth against Rs 457 crore in 2002-03. The bank has announced a total dividend of 50 per cent for the year including the 20 per cent interim dividend it had paid earlier. The bank daid that it managed to increase its profit from Rs 457 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 686 crore in 2003-04 through high recovery of NPAs and reducing the cost of deposits.

The bank, which had brought down its net non-performing assets (NPA) to nil in fiscal 2002-03, has pruned its gross NPAs down from 6.9 per cent to 5.9 per cent in 2003-04. The bank has recovered Rs 557.58 crore worth of NPAs during fiscal 2003-04.
OBC's capital adequacy stands at 14.47 per cent as against 14.04 per cent last year. The bank's net worth has increased to Rs 2,676.79 crore from Rs 2,109.33 crore in the previous fiscal.
The earnings per share have gone up to Rs 35.63 from Rs 23.73 during 2002-03.
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United Western to pay 15 per cent
Pune: The United Western Bank has registered a net profit of Rs 30.96 crore for the year-ended March 2004, an increase of 12.58 per cent against Rs 27.50 crore registered in the same period last year. The board of directors have recommended a dividend of 15 per cent subject to the approval by Reserve Bank of India.
The capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.13 per cent.
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City Union Bank to pay 50 per cent and a 'special'
Coimbatore: The Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank Ltd (CUB) has posted a net profit of Rs 57.04 crore for the fiscal 2003-04, registering a 71 per cent growth over the previous year's Rs 33.37 crore. The board has recommended a dividend of 50 per cent and a special "centenary year" dividend of 20 per cent. This recommendation, however, is subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India. The bank managed to bring the net NPA to 6.37 per cent from a high of 8.21 per cent.
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Centurion Bank to offer RTGS facility
Mumbai: Centurion Bank will soon offer online clearing and settlement system, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) services.
It has received the RTGS compliant certification and approval from the RBI to offer this service, said the bank in a release.
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