Government to buy RBI stake in SBI on June 30
Mumbai: The government is planning to buy the Reserve Bank of India's stake in the State Bank of India on the 30th of June, so as to keep the interest payments to the minimum.

The acquisition will also need a revision to the SBI amendment bill that is currently before the Parliament.

Going by the formula, the payment for the 31 crore shares is expected to be well over Rs42,000 crore. Though the transaction will be completed well within government's financial year, it will need some smart cash management.

The purchase will also need a revision in the SBI amendment bill, currently before the Parliament to seek legislative approval for RBI to drop its stake below 55 per cent to 51 per cent.

Finance ministry sources say they will have to substitute the term government for Reserve Bank, as RBI would have divested its entire stake to a conflict of interest as a banking regulator.
Back to News Review index page  

Centurion Bank eyes more acquisitions
Mumbai: Centurion Bank of Punjab, controlled by the Rana Talwar-promoted Sabre Capital, is planning more bank acquisitions.

Centurion acquired Bank of Punjab, a new generation private bank with itself and is in the process of merging with Lord Krishna Bank, a south-based old private bank.

Centurion has shown 30 per cent-40 per cent growth in business in the last few quarters. Now, it has 400 branches and he hinted that buying small banks will not make sense.
Back to News Review index page  

South India Bank Q3 net profit up 20 per cent
Kochi: South Indian Bank (SIB) has earned an all-time high net profit of Rs81.56 crore for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2006.

The net profit for the third quarter was Rs24.84 crore against Rs20.65 crore for the corresponding period last year registering a growth of 20.30 per cent.

According to a press release, total business of the bank increased by Rs3725 crore to Rs18,451 crore on year-to-year basis, registering a growth of 25.30 per cent.

While deposits were up by Rs2348 crore to Rs10,925 crore, advances increased by Rs1377 crore to Rs7526 crore. The bank earned a total income of Rs271 crore, registering a growth of 30.90 per cent as against Rs207 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

Gross NPA came down from 5.56 per cent to 4.29 per cent and net NPA was down from 2.42 per cent to 1.49 per cent. The capital adequacy ratio went up to 11.76 per cent as on December 31, and EPS went up to Rs15.45 on an annualised basis.

SIB had already obtained permission to open 13 more branches to take the total number of branches to 475 by the end of current fiscal. The bank has decided to launch its new logo on February 5, 2007.

With the present level of growth, the bank is hopeful of achieving the total business target of Rs20,000 crore by the year-end, and also bringing down the net NPA below 1 per cent.
Back to News Review index page