Rupee gains 18 paise
Mumbai: The rupee climbed to a four-and-a-half month high, closing at 45.37/38 against the dollar on Friday, firming up 18 paise from its previous close of 45.54/55.

Forwards Market: the six-month forward closed at 2.33 per cent (2.60 per cent) while the twelve-month premia ended at 1.95 per cent (2.2 per cent).
G-Secs: Prices rose by nearly 40 paise intra-day in medium term papers, before settling to close lower. The 11-year benchmark 7.38 per cent 2015 paper closed at Rs103.60. The 6.65 per cent 2009 paper after rising 25 paise intra-day closed at Rs101.12 at a yield of 6.35 per cent.

Call Rates: In the range of 4.65 per cent to 4.85 per cent with a few deals struck at 5 per cent.

CBLO Market: 116 trades worth Rs4, 205.30 crore were transacted at rates of between 1-5 per cent.
Back to News Review index page  

Chidambaram: Foreign banks may acquire controlling stake in private banks
Mumbai: The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram has said that the Government is open to allowing acquisition of shares - up to 10 per cent a year - by foreign banks in domestic private banks and to assume controlling stake in three-four years.

Stressing the need to encourage consolidation in the sector, Chidambaram said that size, efficiency and scale of operations were important for a bank. He also said that the government would favour consolidation among public sector banks and the acquisition of private banks by PSU banks.

The Government also plans to reintroduce a Bill in Parliament allowing voting rights in accordance with the shareholdings, he said. At present, voting rights of foreign shareholders in local banks are capped at 10 per cent.

Chidambaram also said that the government will continue to retain 51 per cent stake in public sector banks and that there may not be enough "head room" to sell further stakes in banks.
Back to News Review index page  

BoI Q2 profit down 78 percent
Mumbai: On account of higher provisioning Bank of India's net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2004, has dipped 78 per cent at Rs49.54 crore as against Rs226.76 crore in the corresponding period the previous year.

During the second quarter, the bank transferred Rs13,600 crore worth of SLR securities to its `held to maturity' (HTM) portfolio, which resulted in a depreciation of Rs383.25 crore.

While income from treasury operations declined to Rs207.18 crore (Rs331.70 crore), provisions and contingencies grew to Rs313.75 crore (Rs225 crore). Total income was higher at Rs1,781.74 crore (Rs1,894.93 crore). This is inclusive of interest earned at Rs1,521.98 crore (Rs 1,403.93 crore) and other income at Rs259.76 crore (Rs491 crore).

Total expenditure was at Rs1,390.55 crore (Rs1,327.85 crore). Gross non-performing assets were at Rs3,601.59 crore (Rs4,131.47 crore). Net non-performing assets have risen to Rs2,052.67 crore (Rs2,243.74 crore).

Capital adequacy ratio was at 13.05 per cent (12.90 per cent).
For the half year ended September 30,2004, the net profit of was at Rs212.23 crore (Rs430.68 crore).
During this period, total deposits grew to Rs75,637 crore from Rs67,189 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

PNB H1 net up at Rs.735 crore
New Delhi: The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has registered a net profit of Rs735.22 crore for the six-month period ended September 30, 2004, a 33.3 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year.

The total business of the bank stood at Rs1,46,459 crore, a 21.7 per cent growth over the previous year's Rs1,20,382 crore. Its capital and reserves increased to Rs5,743 crore compared with Rs4,579 crore, registering a growth of 26.4 per cent while the capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.58 per cent.

The net non-performing assets (NPAs) as a per cent to the net advances recorded a decline from 2.47 per cent to 0.30 per cent.
Back to News Review index page  

Karnataka Bank Q2 profit dips
Mangalore: The Karnataka Bank Ltd has registered a net profit of Rs31.28 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year compared to Rs34.43 crore during the same period last year.

The bank posted a net profit of Rs70.01 crore during the first half of the current fiscal compared to Rs69.17 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year.

The bank registered an operating profit of Rs195.57 crore (Rs190.80 crore). This figure stood at Rs78.34 crore during the second quarter (Rs77.9 crore).

The bank, for the current financial year, has mobilised Rs9,251 crore of deposits and Rs4,810 crore of advances at the close of first half, it added.
Back to News Review index page  
IDBI Bank Q2 net up at Rs38 crore
Mumbai: IDBI Bank recorded a net profit of Rs37.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, as compared to Rs36.2 crore in the corresponding quarter previous fiscal.

The bank made a provision of Rs25.3 crore consequent to transfer of Government securities from 'available for sale' (AFS) category to `held to maturity' (HTM) category in keeping with RBI guidelines, said a press release from the bank.

Loan loss provisions; write offs and depreciation on investments went up by 43.8 per cent to Rs29.8 crore (Rs20.7 crore).

Total income was at Rs166.8 crore (Rs141.4 crore) comprising net interest income at Rs105.8 crore (Rs75.9 crore), fee income at Rs56.4 crore (Rs46.2 crore) and trading fees, which dropped by 76.2 per cent to Rs4.6 crore (Rs19.3 crore).

Total assets reflected a growth of 39.5 per cent to touch Rs13,886 crore (Rs9,952 crore). Capital adequacy ratio as on September 30, 2004 stood at 10.1 per cent (8.2 per cent). For the half-year ended September 2004, net-profit went up by 27.1 per cent to Rs 74.4 crore (Rs 58.5 crore).
Back to News Review index page  
Oriental Bank net rises 29 per cent
New Delhi: Oriental Bank of Commerce has registered a 29 per cent increase in net profit to Rs395.41 crore for the first six months ended September 30, 2004, against Rs305.17 crore in the same period last year.

The total income stood at Rs1, 883.72 crore (Rs2, 015.69 crore). The interest income rose by more than 6 per cent to Rs1,717.82 crore (Rs1, 614.57 crore). The capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.07 per cent while net non-performing assets was zero per cent.

For the second quarter, the net profit of the bank went up by more than 31 per cent to Rs214.89 crore, compared with Rs162.83 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The total income was at Rs918.61 crore.

The total business of the bank for the first half of 2004 grew by 22 per cent to Rs58,488 crore (Rs47,847 crore). The advances grew by Rs4,095 crore to Rs21,008.73 crore, whereas the deposits grew by 21 per cent to Rs 37,479 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

SBI Life H1 premium income up 5-fold
Mumbai: SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd has said that its premium income rose more than five times to Rs202 crore in the first half of fiscal, as compared to about Rs40 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Bancassurance recorded a premium income of Rs 163 crore or about 80 per cent of the total premium income. SBI Life, a joint venture between State Bank of India and Cardif SA of France, has entered into agreements with 41 banks (including regional rural banks) to sell life insurance, it added.
Back to News Review index page