1.The country's foreign exchange reserves have risen $702 mn to $178.128 bn, for the week ended January 19, on the back of an increase in foreign currency assets. In the previous week, the forex reserves had gone up $841 mn to $177.426 bn.
2.Karnataka Bank Ltd registered a net profit of Rs 53.88 crs during the third quarter of the current financial year as against Rs 41.52 crs during the corresponding period of the previous year, recording a growth of 29.76%.Containing of NPAs and better yield on advances helped the bank to register this growth.
3. Vijaya Bank reported a net profit of Rs 92.73 crs for the third quarter of the financial year 2006-07, a 58 % increase over the corresponding period of the previous year.It has improved its profitability despite the increase in cost of working funds. The bank's operating profit for the year was Rs 172.23 crs, only marginally up from Rs 170.98 crs. The increase in net profit was largely on account of lower provisions for the current year. Provisions for the current year came down to Rs 53.54 crs, a Rs 20 crs reduction over the corresponding period of the previous year.
4. United Bank of India has posted an operating profit of Rs 194.73 crs for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2006, up from Rs 131.94 crs recorded in the corresponding period last year. The profit before tax increased from Rs 72.61 crs to Rs 110.8 crs, a 52% increase.For the nine-month period ended Dec 06, the net profit stood at Rs 231.84 crs against the full-year profit for fiscal 2005-06 of Rs 204.57 crs. On a y on y basis, post-tax profit has shown a 32% growth. The bank's net NPAs declined from 1.95%in March last year to 1.47%in Dec 2006.
5. The Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, will meet CEOs of PSBs on February 5. Indications are that anti-money laundering issues of cash transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports would be discussed at the meeting.
6. UBI which has good presence in rural areas, is planning to enhance its impact in rural areas through various strategies, such as forming one lakh self-help groups by the end of the current fiscal.
7. From the third quarter results of about 30 banks that are available on date, it is clear that New Private banks (those who started out after 1993-94) have done much better than their older counterparts in both the private sector and public sector. The profits of ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank, are almost equal to what three of the five largest public sector banks (Canara , BOB & BOI ) earned taken together. At this rate, it won't be a surprise if ICICI Bank's profits overtake that of SBI, the largest bank in the country in the next quarter. Six of the new private banks registered a profit growth of 40% driven by strong loan growth as well as treasury earnings.
8. Bank of India has opened a `free credit counselling services centre' at Cjhennai for those in distress under the burden of debt. BOI intended to act as a liaison agent between those who had got themselves caught in a debt trap, and the lenders. This is purely a social service, there is no business spin-off from this. Similar services were commonplace elsewhere in the world. The centre would provide free advice on matters relating to gaining access to structured financial systems, including banking, and try to help rehabilitate borrowers in distress. Other two centres, in Mumbai and Wardha, had been operational for about three months. About 50 cases were handled by the centres, most of which related to credit card payments.
