1. The net profit of Federal Bank grew 22.7 per cent to touch Rs 102.92 crore for the third-quarter ended December 2007.The bank posted close to 50 per cent growth in interest and other income. Interest expenditure increased by over 67 per cent. The net interest margin was at 3.17 per cent and net interest income grew by 14 per cent.
2. Punjab National Bank (PNB) is in talks with Asset Reconstruction Company of India Ltd (Arcil) to shed some of its non-performing assets (NPAs) through this route. The bank is looking to pare its NPAs to one per cent of advances by end March 2008 from the level of 1.33 per cent as on end-December 2007.
3. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $350 million loan to improve urban infrastructure and services in 31 towns and cities in Uttarakhand, which is one of the country's top tourist destinations. The Manila-based regional development bank has identified Uttarakhand as one of its priority States in India as its development was lagging behind other States. Improved urban services are needed to support tourism and industry - two economic sectors with substantial development potential in the State.
4. The accretion to the country’s foreign exchange kitty continued, as reserves increased by $3.169 billion to $284.898 billion, for the week ended January 19. The rise is mainly due to the central bank buying dollars in order to keep the rupee from appreciating as well as due to currency revaluation. The increase is less than the previous week’s rise of $5.47 billion, when the total foreign exchange reserves touched $281.73 billion.
5. Insurance fortnight is being observed in the Vishakapatnam branch of Dhanalakshmi Bank . It was inaugurated by Mr P. Krishna Prasad, of the Pydah Engineering College. He said the bank has tied up with Metlife for selling life insurance products and during the fortnight efforts would be made to make the customers aware of the necessity for insurance.
6. ING Vysya Bank’s net profit jumped 198 per cent for the third quarter of the current financial year to Rs 42.75 crore. The increase was partly driven by exceptional revenues of Rs 18.38 crore from sale of a non-banking asset. Gross profits in the third quarter were Rs 72.35 crore, up from Rs 21.32 crore.But gross revenues improved to Rs 528.06 crore from Rs 370.87 crore during the corresponding quarter of the last financial year. The improved gross revenues were driven by improved interest and fee-based incomes.
7. During the quarter ended December 31, 2007, UCO Bank posted a lower net profit of Rs 82.78 crore as compared to Rs 122.95 crore in the same period last year. It would attribute the drop to higher provisioning — Rs 22 crore in respect of some accounts which had been upgraded as per norm and another 34 crore on account of MAT. The operating profit during the period amounted to Rs 197.58 crore (Rs 231.38 crore).The net interest income amounted to Rs 378 crore (Rs 415 crore) and other income Rs 149 crore (Rs 113 crore). The treasury income was Rs 67 crore (Rs 24 crore) and fee-based income Rs 52 crore (Rs 46 crore). The net interest margin was 1.9 (2.42).
8. Taking a cue from the US Federal Reserve which cut the interest rates by 75 basis points, the Fedearation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry have urged the Reserve Bank of India to signal interest rates cuts by 25-50 basis points. “With inflation under control and hovering around three per cent, it is the right time for the RBI to cut repo and reverse repo rates that are currently at 7.75 per cent and six per cent respectively by 25-50 basis points to cover the relative competitive disadvantage India has on the macro economic fundamentals. “This move would strengthen the economic fundamentals and also boost investors’ confidence,” said the CII President, Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, in a statement.
9.Punjab National Bank (PNB) plans to raise further capital of about Rs 1,500 crore before end-March to fund business growth. It will do it only through Tier-II capital as it has headroom there. It will not be through tier-I perpetual bonds. PNB has till date in the current fiscal raised Rs 1,100 crore through tier-I perpetual bonds. This includes the Rs 300 crore bonds raised last week at a borrowing cost of little over 9 per cent per annum.
10. Federal Bank opened its first overseas representative office in Abu Dhabi recently . The office was inaugurated by Mr Vayalar Ravi, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs. Mr M. Venugopalan, Chairman of the bank, said with the opening of the office in the UAE, the bank would be providing single window facility to its NRI clients in the Gulf region. The UAE region also contributes 20 per cent of the deposit base of the bank at Rs 4,000 crore. “This is the first overseas effort of the bank to follow the customers to wherever they live. And moving closer to the customers has always been a top priority of the bank,” Mr K.S. Harshan, ED, said. With the introduction of the representative office closer to the NRI customers, the bank has targeted a growth in overseas business volumes of over 30 per cent from the region in the following years.
