Bank of India Q4 net rises five times
Mumbai: Bank of India has registered a five-fold rise in its Q4 net profit at Rs254.42 crore from Rs52.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, on the back of increase in interest income. The bank's total income grew by 17 per cent to Rs2,326.5 crore, up from Rs1,978.6 crore in the previous year. Net interest income for the quarter increased by 73 per cent to Rs837.81 crore while other income dropped by 16 per cent to Rs324.4 crore.

The bank has declared a dividend of 30 per cent.

Global advances increased to Rs66,662 crore for the fiscal, up from the Rs57,117 crore in the previous year. Global deposits grew to Rs93,932, against Rs 78,821 crore in March 2005.

M. Balachandran, chairman and managing director, Bank of India, said the relatively slower growth in advances was due to the fact that the bank was undertaking credit expansion keeping in view appropriate asset liability management and pricing. "Our lending rates will also be appropriately marked up in due course", he said
BOI has registered a net profit of Rs 701.4 crore for FY05-06, up by 107 per cent from Rs340.5 crore in the previous year.

Shares of BOI ended nearly unchanged at Rs121.30 on BSE.
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YES Bank Q4 net up to Rs.15.32-cr
Mumbai: Yes Bank has registered a rise in net profit to Rs15.32 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2006, against Rs94 lakh in the same quarter last year, due to growth in advances and interest income. The bank's total income stood at Rs101.34 crore (Rs26.74 crore). Net interest income was Rs25.91 crore (Rs10.85 crore). Other income was Rs33.87 crore (Rs6.94 crore). For the full year, the bank's net profit stood at Rs55.32 crore against a loss of Rs2.19 crore last year. The total income was Rs289.92 crore (Rs47.65 crore). Net interest income was Rs85.47 crore (Rs18.13 crore). Other income was Rs99.74 (Rs18.17 crore).

Capital adequacy ratio was 16.43 per cent (18.81 per cent), while it continued to maintain NPAs at 0 per cent. The bank's advances were at Rs2,407 crore from Rs761 crore, up 216 per cent. Deposits increased 339 per cent to Rs2,901 crore from Rs663 crore.

Shares of YES Bank closed at Rs99.4, down 2.9 per cent from the previous close of Rs99.6 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Mahindra Fin net rises 32 pc
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (Mahindra Finance) has registered a 32-per-cent rise in net profit for 2005-06 to Rs108 crore from the previous corresponding Rs82 crore. Income from operations grew 47 per cent to Rs582 crore, an official statement said.

The board has recommended a final dividend of 20 per cent, i.e. Rs2 per share.

The limit for FII holding in the company is also being raised from 24 per cent to 35 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital. Shares of Mahindra Finance ended nearly unchanged at Rs232.30 on BSE.
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RBI likely to reopen probe into demat scam
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India is likely to reopen the probe into banks' share demateriailisation operations yet again. This is as capital market regulator is of the view that the penalty imposed by the RBI on banks involved in the IPO scam is "too less" compared with the magnitude of their guilt.

Earlier, in a meeting between the RBI and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, it was decided that criminal action should be taken against banks involved in the scam.

For now RBI will wait for the reports of National Securities Depositary Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depositary Services Ltd (CDSL), who have been directed by Sebi to submit a report on tainted DPs in a month.

Part of the investigation by the depositaries will verify whether all demat account holders are genuine and the know your customer (KYC) norms laid down by Sebi were duly complied with. Even though Sebi has reportedly been in favour of a fresh round of investigation of all banks involved in the IPO scam, the RBI feels that some banks have already been penalised and the amount is not important as the penalty carries a reputation risk.
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HDFC, IDBI banks plan appeal against demat ban
Mumbai: HDFC Bank and Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) plan to appeal against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order barring them from opening fresh demat accounts.

Sebi has directed HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, ING Vysya Bank and 8 other non-bank depository participants (DPs) not to open new dematerialised accounts till further notice.

The order followed its investigations into the manipulation of the IPO allotment process for retail investors through opening of over 59,000 DP accounts in fictitious or benami names.

Centurion Bank has figured for the first time in the list of banks used as conduit to undermine the IPO allotment process. HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and ING Vysya Bank were fined by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for facilitating perpetration of the IPO allotment scam.

HDFC Bank would be making a representation to Sebi next week. Though IDBI Bank has been banned from opening new DP accounts, its wholly owned subsidiary IDBI Capital Market Services will continue to serve the bank's clients wanting to open DP accounts. IDBI Capital is also a depository participant and offers a 3-in-1 account opening facility that encompasses trading account, demat account and savings or current account with IDBI Bank.
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Forex reserves rise by $2bn to $157bn
Mumbai: Foreign exchange reserves including gold and SDR rose by $2bn during the week ended April 21 to touch $157.2bn. According to figures released by the RBI in its weekly statistical supplement (WSS), while foreign currency assets rose $2056m, the reserve tranche position in the IMF went up $3m during the week. The value of gold in reserves remained unchanged, though the value of SDR went up $3m.
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