1. State Bank of Mysore (SBM) reduced its gross non performing assets (NPA) in the third quarter (Q3) of the current financial year (2007-08) by Rs 31 crore on a year-on-year basis.
Speaking to Business Line, SBM’s Chief General Manager, Mr Dilip Mavinkurve, said, “We upgraded some accounts under Corporate Debt Restructuring. Besides, this year we recovered close to Rs 100 crore including some big ticket accounts.” As a result the bank’s gross non performing assets dropped to 1.83 per cent of the gross advances, down sharply from 2.51 per cent of the corresponding period of the last financial year and 2.87 per cent from Q2 this year.
The recoveries buoyed SBM’s gross profits to Rs 136.15 crore in Q3, a 54 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the last financial year. Net profits grew 25 per cent during the same period to Rs 70.91 crore.
Speaking to Business Line, SBM’s Chief General Manager, Mr Dilip Mavinkurve, said, “We upgraded some accounts under Corporate Debt Restructuring. Besides, this year we recovered close to Rs 100 crore including some big ticket accounts.” As a result the bank’s gross non performing assets dropped to 1.83 per cent of the gross advances, down sharply from 2.51 per cent of the corresponding period of the last financial year and 2.87 per cent from Q2 this year.
The recoveries buoyed SBM’s gross profits to Rs 136.15 crore in Q3, a 54 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the last financial year. Net profits grew 25 per cent during the same period to Rs 70.91 crore.
2. Spurred on by higher net interest income, LIC Housing Finance Ltd reported a 38-per cent increase in Q3 net profit at Rs 106.02 crore, against Rs 76.61 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
3. Spurred by the boom in the infrastructure sector, Infrastructure Development Finance Co (IDFC) has reported a 72-per cent increase in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, to touch Rs 198.67 crore, as against Rs 115.15 crore last year.
4. Private sector general insurance companies improved their market share to 40 per cent, powered by the once shunned motor insurance business for the first eight months of the current financial year.According to the data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), private sector insurers’ gross premium accretions during the period was Rs 7,352.84 crore, a growth of 26.5 per cent over the corresponding period of the last financial year. Public sector insurers’ premium accretions for the same period were Rs 11,156.19 crore, or a growth of 3.81 per cent. The entire industry grew by only 11.77 per cent, during the period, implying that the bulk of the growth was cornered by the private sector companies.
5. United Bank of India will henceforth sell the export credit insurance products of the Export Credit & Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd through its network of branches. This follows the signing of a corporate agency agreement between the two organisations .
6. For the first time, Allahabad Bank will opt for perpetual bond to raise Rs 300 crore. “It is Tier I capital and we will issue it in the current quarter itself”, Mr A.C. Mahajan, CMD of the bank, told newspersons here on Wednesday. The bank’s Tier I capital, as a result, will rise to more than Rs 4,633 crore. The additional resources, as the CMD pointed out, would be needed to meet the increased demand for credit.
7. Grameen Capital India Ltd calls itself the ‘investment banker’ for the poor much like the Nobel Laureate, Dr Muhammad Yunus, called himself the banker of the poor.
The company, which launched its operations in Mumbai on Monday, is a joint venture in which Grameen Foundation, US and IFMR Trust hold 43 per cent stake each and Citicorp Finance India 14 per cent. The initial capital would be Rs 5 crore.Grameen Bank India will help micro finance institutions (MFI) gain wider access to domestic capital markets through securitisation and syndication of micro-finance loans, proactive engagement with rating agencies, and capital advisory services to MFIs for raising low-cost on-lending funds. It will offer IPO advisory and management services as well as help in private placement.
The company, which launched its operations in Mumbai on Monday, is a joint venture in which Grameen Foundation, US and IFMR Trust hold 43 per cent stake each and Citicorp Finance India 14 per cent. The initial capital would be Rs 5 crore.Grameen Bank India will help micro finance institutions (MFI) gain wider access to domestic capital markets through securitisation and syndication of micro-finance loans, proactive engagement with rating agencies, and capital advisory services to MFIs for raising low-cost on-lending funds. It will offer IPO advisory and management services as well as help in private placement.
8. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) registered a 27.49 per cent rise in net profit during the first nine months of the current fiscal. For the nine months ended December 2007, the net profit was Rs 236.91 crore as against Rs 185.82 crore during the corresponding period in the last fiscal, says an SBT press note. This increase is mainly on account of a 27.17 per cent year-on-year growth in non-interest income, the release adds. SBT’s total income during the first nine months of the current fiscal touched Rs 2,811.84 crore as against Rs 2,147.22 crore in the corresponding period in the last fiscal. Total business touched Rs 61,241 crore in December 2007 as against Rs 53,644 crore at the end of December 2006. The gross NPA declined from 2.47 per cent in December 2006 to 2.14 per cent as of December 2007, while the net NPA declined from 1.26 per cent to 0.97 per cent.
9. Punjab National Bank (PNB) plans to raise Rs 300 crore through tier-I perpetual bonds on private placement basis this week, taking the overall amount mobilised in the current fiscal through this route to Rs 1,100 crore.The bank had raised Rs 500 crore through perpetual tier-I bonds in July 2007 at an annual coupon rate of 10.4 per cent. In December 2007, PNB had raised another Rs 300 crore through the same instrument, the annual borrowing cost for such bonds being lower than the 10 per cent level.
10. The banking system is being asked by the regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to become more customer-friendly. The banks have been asked to consider a four-tier institutional machinery, covering all levels from the branch to the board, to improve standards of customer service. Inaugurating the 1001th branch of Vijaya Bank here on Monday, Mr V. Leeladhar, Deputy Governor of RBI, said that the institutional machinery within the banks in the area of customer service should comprise a customer services committee on the board, a standing committee on customer service, a nodal department or nodal official in the head office and each controlling office, and a branch-level customer service committee.
