1. While cash and banking stocks emerged as major parking slots for equity funds in March 2009, companies in the engineering and capital goods segment were among the biggest losers compared with the deployment of funds in March 2008.A sector-wise break-up of investment data by Plexus Management Services reveals that in actively managed open-ended equity funds (diversified, mid cap, tax plan, infrastructure, dynamic and theme fund) for March 2009, it is seen that the allocation into cash stands at 14.3 per cent from 7.4 per cent in March 2008.
2. ICICI bank, the country’s largest private sector bank that has been fighting bad loans and slowdown in loan growth, declared a dip in net profit that stood at Rs 3,758.13 crore at the end of March 2009, against Rs 4,157.73 crore at the end of 2008.The bank’s fourth-quarter profit too fell 35.3 per cent to Rs 743.76 crore at the end of the quarter ending March 2009, against Rs 1,149.84 crore at the end of the quarter ending March 2008. ICICI Bank’s non-performing advances rose from 1.5 per cent in March 2008 to 1.95 per cent in March 2009.
3. Donning the role of a commander ill-equipped to save the Titanic of the banking world, Citigroup’s India-born chief Vikram Pandit has found a place among the 20 worst-ever CEOs in American history. The top honour has gone to bankrupt Lehman Brothers’ Dick Fuld.The list of America’s 20 worst-ever CEOs, compiled by business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio after consulting with a panel of business school professors, identifies the business “leaders who helped drive their companies into the ground”. It includes “six men who helped make today’s economy stink”, the magazine said.
4. Home loans lender HDFC has no plans to lower its interest rates as of now, its top executive said."We have no plans to lower our interest rates as of now," HDFC's Chairman, Deepak Parekh, told reporters on the sidelines of a function here today.
He said that the Reserve Bank has pegged GDP growth rate for this fiscal at six per cent.
On inflation, Parekh said that the wholesale price index (WPI) was low whereas the consumer price index (CPI) was still high.
5. State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it would launch 700 branches in this financial year, a hundred less than half of last year.“We will add 700 more branches this year,” SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said.Last financial year, the bank had opened 1,600 branches.Of the 700 branches, many would be opened in rural areas, Bhatt said.
Like last year, this year the bank plans to reach out to 50,000 villages where there are no banking operations, he said.The reach out could be through an ATM machine or a point of sale, he said.The bank would like to raise about Rs 20,000 crore subject to government approval, he said.
6. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has posted a net profit of Rs. 607.84 crore during 2008-09, the bank’s Managing Director A. K. Jagannathan announced here on Friday. At a press conference, he said the net profit was 57.43 per cent more than that in the previous year. In 2007-08, the net profit was Rs. 386.11 crore. The operating profit in 2008-09 was Rs. 1,056.27 crore, as compared to Rs. 709.09 crore in 2007-08. During the last quarter of 2008-09, which coincided with the unfolding phase of the global economic recession, the bank registered an increase of 29 per cent in net profit over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.The net profit during the quarter stood at Rs. 192.03 crore as against Rs. 149 crore. The higher profit was due to a rise in net interest income, which at Rs. 328.79 crore, was 31 per cent more than Rs. 250.43 crore recorded during the same period of the previous year. The directors have announced a dividend of Rs. 13 per share of Rs. 10 each for the year.
7. State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur has recorded a business (deposits plus advances) growth of Rs. 9.885 crore during 2008-09 to reach a level of Rs. 69,312 crore. The operating profit recorded a growth of 35 per cent to reach Rs. 892.84 crore while the net profit increased by 28.1 per cent to Rs. 403.45 crore from Rs.315 crore in 2007-08. The directors have declared a dividend of Rs. 12 per share (face value of Rs.10), against 10 per share paid in the previous year.
8. Standard Chartered Bank has started the process to raise around Rs 5,000 crore through an Indian Depository Receipts (IDR) issue in the local markets. The bank has appointed JM Financial and UBS AG as lead managers for what could be the first IDR issue by a global player. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Kotak Mahindra are the other banks appointed to manage the issue.
9. Rising delinquencies and non-performing assets (NPAs) in the credit card business are forcing banks to reorient their outlook, from an aggressive sales strategy to inducting people who will focus on recovery and cleaning up the portfolio. As a result, the past year has seen all the four leading players in the credit card business replacing their chiefs. In March last year, T R Ramachandran, business manager (cards) of Citibank was shifted as head of the retail banking division. He was replaced by Sandeep Bhalla, who had experience in the cards business in the US, in May. In October, Ramachandran quit Citibank to become CEO of Aviva Life Insurance. Asked about the change, a Citibank spokesperson said in an emailed statement, “The last year has seen strong managers such as Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager-Cards, and Harjeet Chopra, Country Risk Manager, join the India Consumer organisation from Citi overseas. Grooming senior managers who have experience across businesses, functions and geographies is critical to Citi's talent strategy and we take this task very seriously.”
10. State Bank of India has agreed to lend Vodafone-Essar, the joint venture between UK’s Vodafone and Essar, Rs 10,000 crore to finance the company’s entry into 3G (third generation) telecom services and expansion of its broadband operations. The five-year loan carries an interest rate of 13.25 per cent for the first two years; thereafter, it will be re-adjusted on the basis of the average prime lending rate of four public sector banks — SBI, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda, sources said.Banking sources said SBI had decided to down-sell Rs 7,000 crore to other banks and financial institutions and will retain an exposure of Rs 3,000 crore. The interest rate for the first two years is a percentage point above SBI’s benchmark prime lending rate.
2. ICICI bank, the country’s largest private sector bank that has been fighting bad loans and slowdown in loan growth, declared a dip in net profit that stood at Rs 3,758.13 crore at the end of March 2009, against Rs 4,157.73 crore at the end of 2008.The bank’s fourth-quarter profit too fell 35.3 per cent to Rs 743.76 crore at the end of the quarter ending March 2009, against Rs 1,149.84 crore at the end of the quarter ending March 2008. ICICI Bank’s non-performing advances rose from 1.5 per cent in March 2008 to 1.95 per cent in March 2009.
3. Donning the role of a commander ill-equipped to save the Titanic of the banking world, Citigroup’s India-born chief Vikram Pandit has found a place among the 20 worst-ever CEOs in American history. The top honour has gone to bankrupt Lehman Brothers’ Dick Fuld.The list of America’s 20 worst-ever CEOs, compiled by business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio after consulting with a panel of business school professors, identifies the business “leaders who helped drive their companies into the ground”. It includes “six men who helped make today’s economy stink”, the magazine said.
4. Home loans lender HDFC has no plans to lower its interest rates as of now, its top executive said."We have no plans to lower our interest rates as of now," HDFC's Chairman, Deepak Parekh, told reporters on the sidelines of a function here today.
He said that the Reserve Bank has pegged GDP growth rate for this fiscal at six per cent.
On inflation, Parekh said that the wholesale price index (WPI) was low whereas the consumer price index (CPI) was still high.
5. State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it would launch 700 branches in this financial year, a hundred less than half of last year.“We will add 700 more branches this year,” SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said.Last financial year, the bank had opened 1,600 branches.Of the 700 branches, many would be opened in rural areas, Bhatt said.
Like last year, this year the bank plans to reach out to 50,000 villages where there are no banking operations, he said.The reach out could be through an ATM machine or a point of sale, he said.The bank would like to raise about Rs 20,000 crore subject to government approval, he said.
6. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has posted a net profit of Rs. 607.84 crore during 2008-09, the bank’s Managing Director A. K. Jagannathan announced here on Friday. At a press conference, he said the net profit was 57.43 per cent more than that in the previous year. In 2007-08, the net profit was Rs. 386.11 crore. The operating profit in 2008-09 was Rs. 1,056.27 crore, as compared to Rs. 709.09 crore in 2007-08. During the last quarter of 2008-09, which coincided with the unfolding phase of the global economic recession, the bank registered an increase of 29 per cent in net profit over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.The net profit during the quarter stood at Rs. 192.03 crore as against Rs. 149 crore. The higher profit was due to a rise in net interest income, which at Rs. 328.79 crore, was 31 per cent more than Rs. 250.43 crore recorded during the same period of the previous year. The directors have announced a dividend of Rs. 13 per share of Rs. 10 each for the year.
7. State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur has recorded a business (deposits plus advances) growth of Rs. 9.885 crore during 2008-09 to reach a level of Rs. 69,312 crore. The operating profit recorded a growth of 35 per cent to reach Rs. 892.84 crore while the net profit increased by 28.1 per cent to Rs. 403.45 crore from Rs.315 crore in 2007-08. The directors have declared a dividend of Rs. 12 per share (face value of Rs.10), against 10 per share paid in the previous year.
8. Standard Chartered Bank has started the process to raise around Rs 5,000 crore through an Indian Depository Receipts (IDR) issue in the local markets. The bank has appointed JM Financial and UBS AG as lead managers for what could be the first IDR issue by a global player. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Kotak Mahindra are the other banks appointed to manage the issue.
9. Rising delinquencies and non-performing assets (NPAs) in the credit card business are forcing banks to reorient their outlook, from an aggressive sales strategy to inducting people who will focus on recovery and cleaning up the portfolio. As a result, the past year has seen all the four leading players in the credit card business replacing their chiefs. In March last year, T R Ramachandran, business manager (cards) of Citibank was shifted as head of the retail banking division. He was replaced by Sandeep Bhalla, who had experience in the cards business in the US, in May. In October, Ramachandran quit Citibank to become CEO of Aviva Life Insurance. Asked about the change, a Citibank spokesperson said in an emailed statement, “The last year has seen strong managers such as Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager-Cards, and Harjeet Chopra, Country Risk Manager, join the India Consumer organisation from Citi overseas. Grooming senior managers who have experience across businesses, functions and geographies is critical to Citi's talent strategy and we take this task very seriously.”
10. State Bank of India has agreed to lend Vodafone-Essar, the joint venture between UK’s Vodafone and Essar, Rs 10,000 crore to finance the company’s entry into 3G (third generation) telecom services and expansion of its broadband operations. The five-year loan carries an interest rate of 13.25 per cent for the first two years; thereafter, it will be re-adjusted on the basis of the average prime lending rate of four public sector banks — SBI, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda, sources said.Banking sources said SBI had decided to down-sell Rs 7,000 crore to other banks and financial institutions and will retain an exposure of Rs 3,000 crore. The interest rate for the first two years is a percentage point above SBI’s benchmark prime lending rate.
