1. Union Bank of India (UBI) is eyeing a slice of the reverse mortgage pie and expects to finalise the product details in about two months.The bank is undeterred by concerns expressed about growing delinquency in personal and housing loan repayments and plans to have 33 Retail Asset Branches (RABs) that would deal with a slew of products, before the end of the current fiscal.
2. In the wake of inflation moderating, the Confederation of Indian Industry has suggested that the monetary tightening measures introduced earlier by the RBI to contain inflation be eased.The non-food credit offtake during the period March 31 and May 25 reduced significantly. The non-food credit outstanding during this period declined by more than two per cent to Rs 18,41,656 crore as on May 25.The total bank credit also registered a similar downward movement.
3. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has increased its capital base by Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,372 crore. The capital has been infused by the promoters ICICI Bank and Prudential plc, in the existing proportions of 74:26 respectively. The additional capital will be used to fund the high up-front expenses and meet the solvency norms. It will also enable ICICI Prudential to continue driving its expansion strategy over the next year, which includes opening new branches and offices across the country as well as scaling up operations.
4. Select branches of Indian Bank will work on all seven days of the week for a few months to sanction education loans to meritorious students, said the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr M.S. Sundara Rajan. Addressing newspersons on Saturday, he said that as counselling for admission to higher education courses would be completed shortly, the bank anticipated a large number of applicants for education loans.
5. SBI’s performance looks spectacular, although the gloss has much to do with a relatively poorer performance a year ago. At that time (quarter ended June 2006), profits had dipped 35 per cent to Rs 799 crore due in part to a drop in treasury income and the presence of a tax refund in the earlier year).On the average most banks have reported a 35 per cent growth in profits this quarter, riding on the back of a fairly consistent increase in interest income.
6. Backed by a strong growth in net interest income and other income, Bank of Baroda posted 102.6 per cent growth in its net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, at Rs 330.84 crore from Rs 163.32 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.The other income went up by 64.38 per cent to Rs 370.19 crore from Rs 225.20 crore. Net interest income was up 15.5 per cent to Rs 958.6 crore from Rs 829.9 crore.Total income for the quarter grew by 37.94 per cent to Rs 3,024.8 crore (Rs 2,192.87 crore). The net interest margin was at 3.2 per cent (3.19 per cent). The bank has set a target to keep its NIM over 3 per cent. Operating profit was up 28 per cent to Rs 644.46 crore (Rs 503.52 crore). Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 14.33 per cent.
7. A consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India has committed Rs 7,793 crore to Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Ltd, which is setting up a 9 million tonne refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab.
The company is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd, Singapore. HPCL and Mittal Investments will be equal partners in the company (49 per cent each). The remaining 2 per cent will be raised from financial investors.The project, which has a debt equity ratio of 1.5:1, envisages an outlay of Rs 13,789 crore. The entire debt is designated in Indian rupees.
The company is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd, Singapore. HPCL and Mittal Investments will be equal partners in the company (49 per cent each). The remaining 2 per cent will be raised from financial investors.The project, which has a debt equity ratio of 1.5:1, envisages an outlay of Rs 13,789 crore. The entire debt is designated in Indian rupees.
8. The country’s forex kitty swelled by $3.087 billion to $222.043 billion for the week ended July 20 on continuous RBI intervention in the forex market and revaluation of non-dollar currencies, especially the euro against dollar. The reserves had gone up by $4.12 billion to $218.956 billion for the week ended July 13. Foreign currency assets rose $3.087 billion to $214.79 billion, said the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement.
9. J&K Bank on Friday reported a 33.44 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended June 30 to Rs 83.24 crore compared with Rs 62.38 crore recorded in the same period last year.
Interest earned for the quarter under review stood at Rs 575.05 crore as against Rs 454.65 crore in the same period last year. The 33 per cent growth in net profit in the first quarter has been driven by a 32 per cent increase in advances and about 113 basis points increase in yield on advances from 9.1 per cent to 10.23 per cent.
Interest earned for the quarter under review stood at Rs 575.05 crore as against Rs 454.65 crore in the same period last year. The 33 per cent growth in net profit in the first quarter has been driven by a 32 per cent increase in advances and about 113 basis points increase in yield on advances from 9.1 per cent to 10.23 per cent.
10. Karnataka Bank Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 51.79 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year as against Rs 36.78 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, recording a growth of 40.81 per cent. The increase in net interest income and higher yield on advances contributed for the growth in net profit. The net interest income rose 30.51 per cent to Rs 124.4 crore (Rs 95.32 crore).
11. With the change at the helm, there has been a shift in gears. The new Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Overseas Bank, Mr S.A. Bhat, intends to go slow on activating the bank’s financial services subsidiary, which recently obtained the RBI’s nod for stock broking activities. At a press conference here, he said that the bank would not begin stock broking activities. Other financial services such as wealth management and merchant banking could well be provided by the parent bank.
12. In an effort to help NRIs in buying homes, HDFC has opened special counters at its offices in Coimbatore, Erode, Palakkad and Salem. Trained counsellors would help the customers in property search, explain the different products available and provide them advice on legal and technical issues. In a release, HDFC said since their holiday season coincided with HDFC’s ‘Monsoon Festival’, customers who apply for loans on or before August 14 and availing themse lves of disbursement by August 31, would be offered special interest rates.The special NRI counters would function from July 27 to August 5.
13. The initial public offering of Central Bank of India was subscribed 61.94 times. Bids were received at lower end of the price band of Rs 85 – 102. A total of 495.4 crore bids were received against the issue size of 8 crore equity shares.
