Rupee touches 44 levels
Mumbai: After opening weaker at 44 levels, the rupee touched an intra-day low of 44.08/09 after which it scrambled back to close 14 paise weaker at 43.95/96 per dollar. It had closed at 43.81/82 per dollar on Friday.

Forwards Market: The six months forward closed at 2.05 per cent, while the one-year premium closed at 1.61 per cent.

G-Secs: The 10-year benchmark paper - the 7:38 per cent 2015 paper closed at Rs106 at a yield to maturity of 6.55 per cent, around 15 paise lower from its previous levels.

Call Rates: Up to 4.85 per cent levels in the inter-bank market
CBLO market: 129 trades were conducted for an amount of Rs4,271.50 crore in the rate range of 4.6 per cent to 5 per cent.
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PNB to raise up to Rs3,000 crore through public offer
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) intends to raise about Rs3,000 crore through its second public offer and return three crore equity shares to the government by March 31.

The paid up capital of the bank will be increased by Rs80 crore to Rs345.32 crore through the public issue of up to eight crore equity shares of the face value of Rs10 each, PNB has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The issue price for the public offer will be determined through the book building process.

The government had cleared PNB's public offer proposal on January 7. Subsequent to the public offer, government's holding in the bank will come down to 57 per cent from 80 per cent.

The issue is slated to hit the market in the January-March period. The Board of Directors of the bank is scheduled to meet on January 28 to consider the results of the third quarter of current fiscal.

The bank has posted a net profit of Rs412.55 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, compared to Rs299.76 crore in the year-ago period.
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UAE Exchange Centre offers mobile money transfers
Abu Dhabi: The UAE Exchange Centre has launched the world's first secure mobile phone based money transfer service by an exchange company.

It is a unique secure transaction solution, which allows the UAE Exchange customers to transfer money using their existing mobile phones and bank accounts, across the globe, from anywhere and at anytime.

The UAE Exchange's Wallet has been developed by C-SAM Inc of the US, based on a patented technology, which allows mobile phone users to securely load an "empty wallet" and create a personalised account at a Web-based transaction portal. The Wallet security features ensure that only a registered UAE Exchange customer can access their Wallet on their mobile phone.

C-SAM, Inc and Dataline FZ LLC have set up a joint venture at Dubai Internet city (DIC) to promote mobile phone based money transfer services throughout the world and other secure transaction services throughout the GCC & West Asia.
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Centurion Bank Q3 net up at Rs7.1 crore
Mumbai: Private sector Centurion Bank Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs7.10 crore for the third quarter ended December 31,2004, as against a net loss of Rs6.54 crore in the corresponding year-ago period.

During the third quarter, total income of the bank grew to Rs103.66 crore (Rs99.17 crore). This comprised interest earned at Rs86.96 crore (Rs83.67 crore) and other operating income at Rs16.70 crore (Rs15.50 crore).

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank improved to 10.17 per cent (3.52 per cent). Net non-performing assets of the bank came down to 3.36 per cent (6.47 per cent). Retail assets of the bank (pre-securitisation) increased by 54 per cent to Rs1,876 crore from Rs1,220 crore in the year-ago period.

For the nine-months ended December 31, 2004, the bank recorded a net-profit of Rs15.51 crore against a loss of Rs7.42 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2003. The board of the bank has approved a proposal to raise additional equity capital of about Rs300 crore. The bank has also called for an EGM on February 7, to seek shareholders' approval to raise up to Rs600 crore, in one or more tranches.
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