Krishna Kumar is new Canara Bank ED

V. S. Krishna Kumar has assumed charge as Executive Director of Canara Bank with effect from April 4. Krishna Kumar has over three decades of experience and has headed different branches and diverse departments of Allahabad Bank. He joined Allahabad Bank in 1981 as a Probationary Officer and rose to the rank of General Manager in 2009.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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Karnataka Bank appoints 4 new DGMs

Karnataka Bank has promoted four of its Assistant General Managers as Deputy General Managers. They are Muralidhar Krishna Rao, Nagaraja Rao B., Venkappaya K., and Rudraiah H.S.

A press release said here on Friday that Muralidhar Krishna Rao will be in-charge of Treasury and Accounts Department, Nagaraja Rao B. will head the Mumbai region of the bank, Venkappaya K. will be in-charge of Inspection and Audit Department, and Rudraiah H.S. will be in-charge of Planning Development Department at the head office.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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NPCI to launch RuPay global cards by July

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said its RuPay debit card will go international by July and announced a tie-up with an American card issuer.

Announcing the tie-up with Discover here, NPCI Chief Executive A P Hota said both RuPay and the American firm stand to gain from this partnership due to extended distribution network of their respective cardholders.

“The RuPay Card is also leveraging upon EMV technology of Discover to issue global cards. Cards, terminal and host specifications for the RuPay global cards have since been released to the pilot-member banks. Issuance of RuPay global cards will commence in July with two banks,” Hota said.

NPCI and Discover Financial Services also announced operationalisation of acceptance of Discover and Diners’ Club cards in India on NPCI’s NFS (National Financial Switch) network.

As part of a strategic alliance, announced last year, Discover and Diners Club cards now are accepted at over 85,000 NFS ATMs across the country, Hota said.

In the coming months, RuPay global cards will be issued and accepted on the Discover, Diners Club International and PULSE networks for international purchases and cash access outside India. This will be followed by the acceptance of Discover and Diners Club cards access at point-of-sale terminals for purchases in the country.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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12 companies authorised to own, operate ATMs, says RBI official

The Reserve bank of India has given in-principle approval to seven companies to roll out White Label ATMs last month.

White Label ATM (WLA) operator is a non-bank entity which can set up, own and operate an automated teller machine (ATM) as extended delivery channels. The RBI gave final guidelines for prospective WLA operators in August last year.

“Seven companies have been given authorisation (to set up WLAs) while five were given in December last year, taking the total to 12. As soon as they get their act together, they will be in operation,” said Vijay Chugh, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, at the sidelines of a conference hosted by Discover Financial Services and National Payments Corporation of India.

“Of the total 19 applicants, 17 have been found eligible, 12 have been given the authorisation. We expect one or two operators to kick-start business in the next few months. One of them is Tata (Communications Banking InfraSolutions),” Chugh said.

About 1.5 lakh ATMs can be rolled out in the next three years and two million PoS (Point-of-Sale) terminals in two years if all the 17 companies start functioning. That is the expectation, he added.

Under the RBI guidelines, the authorisation for setting up a WLA operation would be initially valid for a period of one year under three schemes — A, B and C — which specify the rural to semi-urban ATM ratio for network expansion. WLA operators are allowed to charge their customers as per the banks’ charges. Currently, banks are not allowed to charge the customers for the first five transactions in other bank ATMs. Above that, banks levy Rs 15 for cash withdrawal and Rs 5 for balance enquiry.

Beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in


Source: thehindubusinessline

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IRDA removes limit on insurers reverse repo transactions in G-Secs

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has removed the 10 per cent exposure limit on reverse repo transactions by insurers.

Insurance companies will now be free to invest in reverse repo transactions in government securities as per their discretion.

IRDA said reverse repo transactions in Government securities were treated on a par with collateralised borrowing and lending obligation transactions and the 10 per cent investment limit wasn’t applicable to this category, in a circular to the chief executives of all insurance companies

However, in case of corporate bonds, the investment limit would be 10 per cent of all the funds.

deepa.nair@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Axis Bank appoints Rajiv Anand as retail banking head

Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector bank, today announced the appointment of Rajiv Anand as President - Retail Banking with effect from May 1, 2013.

At present, Anand heads the Axis Asset Management Company Ltd, the asset management arm of Axis Bank, as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to this, Anand has worked with HSBC, Standard Chartered Mutual Fund and IDFC.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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IOB gets nod to open second branch in Bangkok, 2 branches in Sri Lanka

Indian Overseas Bank has received RBI’s approval for opening a second branch in Bangkok, M. Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, said.

The RBI has also given its nod for IOB to open two more branches in Sri Lanka, Narendra told Business Line here.

Narendra was in the Capital to receive awards on behalf of the bank for excellence in lending to micro, small and medium enterprises as also to khadi and village industries.

Currently, IOB is the only Indian bank to have a branch in Bangkok.

In Sri Lanka, IOB has a full-fledged branch in Colombo, besides an extension counter. Now, the RBI has given the bank the approval to set up a specialised branch in Colombo and also convert the existing extension counter into a branch.

In all, IOB will now have three branches in Colombo, Narendra said.

“We expect to open the second branch in Bangkok in the current fiscal itself. Even the two branches in Colombo will open this year,” Narendra said,

IOB had roped in Deloitte to devise a strategy for the bank’s overseas expansion.

Narendra said IOB was also keen to establish its presence at the Dubai International Financial Centre. The bank is also awaiting regulatory nod for upgrading its representative office in Vietnam into a branch.

Currently, IOB has six overseas branches — one each at Singapore, Sri Lanka, Seoul and Bangkok and two in Hong Kong.

This public sector lender also has a joint venture — India International Bank — in Malaysia.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in


Source: thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank eyes Rs 7-lakh cr business in 2013-14

Canara Bank  said it is targeting a total business to the tune of Rs 7 lakh crore in 2013-14. It also plans to open 1,300 new branches in the next two years to expand its presence.

“We are targeting to achieve total business of Rs 7 lakh crore in 2013-14. But this target is yet to be approved by the board,” bank’s Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey told reporters here.

“Bank’s main focus will remain on agriculture, retail and MSME for lending,” he added.

Bangalore-headquartered bank achieved 13 per cent growth with total business size of Rs 6 lakh crore comprising Rs 3.55 lakh crore of deposits in 2012-13.

Asked about bank’s expansion, Dubey said the bank is planning to open 1,300 new domestic branches and nine overseas offices in next two years.

“We have plans to open 1,300 new branches in next two years, which will take branch strength to 5,000,” he said.

Dubey said bank would also open nine overseas offices in countries including Brazil, Tokyo, South Africa, Qatar in next two years. Canara Bank has presently five overseas branches in countries including Moscow, London, Hong Kong.

Asked about hiring, Dubey said the bank would hire 5,500 people in current fiscal which would be required for upcoming branch expansion across the country.

“Last year, we recruited 4,000 people and this fiscal we will recruit 5,500,” he added.

He further said the bank has also plans to open 10 branches which will have only women employees. These branches will be opened in state capitals.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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Banks borrow most from RBI on last day of FY13

Banks borrowed a record Rs1.81 lakh crore from the Reserve Bank of India, in the last working day of the financial year ended March 31, 2013. This was the highest daily borrowing for the year as banks sought funds to meet their year-end balance-sheet requirements and the government's cash balances with the Reserve Bank ballooned.

Liquidity in the system remained tight throughout March, as reflected in the borrowing data. According to the RBI data, banks borrowed Rs1.81 lakh crore through the repo window. Banks also resorted to borrowing from the marginal standing facility (MSF), where banks borrow at 1% more than the repo rate, which is currently at 7.5%. Banks borrowed Rs7,000 crore through the MSF window.

"Cash balances with Reserve Bank of India were huge last month," said Arun Khurana, head, global markets, IndusInd Bank. "Once this money comes into the system, the liquidity should improve."

Central government's cash balances with RBI stood at Rs87,835 crore on March 22.

Source: Economictimes

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Kingfisher dues: United Bank of India files winding-up petition

In what is being seen as more trouble for the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, one of its creditors — United Bank of India — has filed a winding-up petition against United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL). The petition is pending admission before the Karnataka High Court, it is learnt.

UBHL, which is the holding company of the UB Group, was the guarantor for the loans given by United Bank of India to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).

United Bank is the first lender in the 17-bank consortium to seek winding up of the guarantor company (UBHL), after KFA defaulted. In comparison, the consortium headed by State Bank of India is looking to proceed directly against KFA for recovery of the dues, estimated at about Rs 7,000 crore.

United Bank of India has an exposure of close to Rs 400 crore to KFA, which includes pre-delivery payment (PDP) financing for aircraft as well as working capital financing.

As UBHL was not able to meet its liabilities arising from non-payment of dues by KFA, United Bank has moved the Karnataka High Court with a winding up petition, sources in the banking industry said.

If the Karnataka High Court were to admit the winding-up petition, then it could frustrate the revival attempts of the grounded airline, say bankers.

This is because the Director-General of Civil Aviation is unlikely to renew KFA’s licence unless the airline is able to produce a no-objection certificate from lenders such as banks and tax authorities. But, with a winding-up petition pending before a High Court, no banker is likely to give a no-objection certificate for the airline to restart operations, say some economy watchers.

There is also an opposite view that any majority support from bankers (on repayment of dues to them) could still tilt the scale in favour of a revival of the airline.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

ashwini.phadnis@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Corporation Bank plans to test purity of gold pledged with ‘caratometers’

To ensure purity of gold pledged with it by borrowers, Mangalore-headquartered Corporation Bank is experimenting with caratometers at some of its branches.

With its gold loan portfolio jumping by almost 70 per cent jump in FY13 to about Rs 4,000 crore, the public sector bank is testing viability of the caratometer as a risk-mitigation tool, aimed at breaking the borrower-assayer (usually a local jeweller) nexus.

The caratometer, which is a scientific and non-destructive method of testing the purity of the precious metal, could be used for a confirmatory test (after the assayer gives his report on the quality of gold), thereby ensuring the purity of gold pledged with the bank by borrowers, said a senior official.

“If we are satisfied with the caratometers, which have been procured from a couple of vendors, then we could install them in the branches where the loan against gold business is high,” said a senior official.

Corporation Bank’s gold loan portfolio more than doubled to Rs 3,662 crore as of December-end 2012, against Rs 1,585 crore as at December-end 2011. In the first nine months of the current financial year, the bank’s gold loan portfolio swelled 70 per cent (or by Rs 1,546 crore).

For agriculture loans against gold, the bank charges 10.60 per cent interest for loans up to 12 months and 11.10 per cent for loans of 12-24 months.

For non-agriculture loans against the pledge of gold, the bank charges 11.60 per cent for loans up to Rs 2 lakh and 12.60 per cent for above Rs 2 lakh.

To further boost agriculture lending, the bank has opened ‘gold loan shoppe’ at seven places. The shoppe is an exclusive gold loan counter within the branch to provide quick and fast clearance of gold loans to customers against gold ornaments.

Ramkumar.k@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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IRDA asks life insurers to submit product planners by month-end

Life insurers will now have to submit their plans for launch of new products to the insurance regulator.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has directed all life insurance companies to submit a product planner 45 days before the beginning of every financial year.

For the current financial year, the product planners should be submitted before this month end.

The objective of the move is to speed up the product-approval process as there is a “huge” number of applications for new products, T. S. Vijayan, Chairman, IRDA, said in a circular issued on Monday.

“In order to expedite the product-approval process, the authority requires certain information from the insurers to plan for resources available,” he said.

As of now, the IRDA is seeking additional information, if required, from the insurers within 30 days of receipt of an application for product approval under ‘file and use’ procedures.

naga.gunturi@thehindu.co.in


Source: thehindubusinessline

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J&K Bank achieves Rs one lakh crore business

Jammu and Kashmir Bank said it has achieved the Rs one lakh crore business and expressed confidence of meeting its other annual targets as well.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank surpassed the target of the promised Rs one lakh crore business in Platinum Jubilee year amid firm belief to meet easily its other annual targets as well, bank’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mushtaq Ahmad said.

“It is a jubilation moment for all of us to celebrate in this Platinum Jubilee year,” the Chairman said.

Ahmad said the road ahead is “full of challenges” in view of the global financial conditions, slowing domestic economy and the testing work environment in the state.

“I am sure that all of us together will surmount these challenges and convert them into opportunities demonstrating our innate capacity to rise to the occasion,” he added.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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SKS Micro raises Rs 226 cr via securitisation deals, scrip gains

SKS Microfinance Ltd has concluded two secruitisation deals for Rs 226 crore.

With this, the Hyderabad-based company had completed 12 securitisation transactions with seven funding parters for Rs 1,207 crore in the financial year 2012-13 which ended on Sunday.

In addtion, SKS had also raised an incremental debt of Rs 1,680 crore for FY 13 and raised a fresh equity of Rs 263.5 crore. The total incremental fund flow stood at Rs 3,150 crore which is more than double the Rs 1,434 crore mobilsed in FY 12, the company said in a relase.

SKS Microfinance scrip gained 4.57 per cent after opening of trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday and is trading at Rs 127.10.

naga.gunturi@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Bank of Baroda to rebalance loan portfolio, exercise caution in lending

Rebalancing the loan portfolio, exercising caution in lending, and grooming the middle management to take up higher responsibilities are the main focus of Bank of Baroda Chairman and Managing Director S.S. Mundra.

Mundra, who took charge of BoB in January, has hit the ground running, placing premium on continuity in the bank but remaining contemporary at the same time. In an interaction with Business Line, Mundra, who started his career as a probationary officer in Bank of Baroda in 1977, says that given the pressure on asset quality (bad loans increased from Rs 4,465 crore as of March-end 2012 to Rs 7,321 crore as of December-end 2013), his bank is on a mission to improve the same. Excerpts from the interaction:

Premium on continuity

I have a relatively short tenure (of 19 months at the helm of Bank of Baroda). As I’m from this bank I hit the ground running. My bank has been doing consistently well over a period of time. When it comes to all key performance parameters, whether it is the business, gross non-performing assets (NPA), net NPA, net interest margin and profitability, our bank stands head and shoulders above the peer group.

Of course, when there is so much stress in the economy, you cannot totally remain unaffected. It is bound to have some impact on you.

But my personal philosophy is that with all this background, I would like to put a lot of premium on continuity. If you have not been performing well consistently then there is a reason for you to consider changes (in the functioning of the organisation). But when the bank has been doing quiet well then there is no need for change. I don’t believe in change for the sake of change. My basic underlying philosophy is premium on continuity but to remain contemporary. So, slight course correction is needed, and some re-balancing between the portfolios is needed, these need to be undertaken.

Portfolio rebalancing

Our bank has a fairly good balance between domestic business (accounts for 70 per cent of the global business — deposits plus advances — of Rs 7,14,051 crore as at December-end 2012) and overseas business (30 per cent of global business); our overseas business contributes 25 per cent to our bottomline.

In the domestic business (of Rs 4,96,595 crore), we have a fairly good presence in all the four segments — corporate banking, mid- and small and medium enterprises (SME), retail and agriculture. But as of today, our domestic loan portfolio (of Rs 2,01,208 crore) is slightly leaning towards the corporate segment.

In the backdrop of the current economic situation and from the perspective of spreading the risk better and deriving wholesome value from our loan portfolio, I feel that our loan portfolio composition, in percentage terms, should slightly move in favour of retail, SME and agriculture.

This doesn’t mean that corporate loans will not happen (they will continue to grow), but if I have to bring some course correction in terms of percentage it means that retail, SME and agriculture loans have to grow at a rate slightly higher than corporate loans.

Currently, corporate credit constitutes about 45 per cent of the overall loan portfolio; agriculture 15-16 per cent; retail 14-15 per cent; and SME 22-23 per cent. If there is a differentiated growth between corporate credit and other loan segments, rebalancing will gradually happen.

As of today, if I am looking at a credit growth of, let’s say, 18 per cent or so in FY14, my endeavour would be for retail, SME and agriculture portfolio to grow at 22 per cent plus. This would automatically bring a little bit of re-balancing.

Caution, the watchword

When it comes to lending, caution is being exercised in the sectors (like infrastructure) where policy issues are yet to be resolved. Earlier, it was assumed that these things (delays in getting statutory approvals) are normal but they (approvals) will be in place and you (banks) need not wait for them. But today, having seen that they (approvals) are not always coming on time, one would like to be very clear that everything is in place beforehand. You can’t start committing funds in anticipation of a few things happening. This we have learnt from experience and hence the caution.

Focus areas

International business will continue to grow. But within the international business, as of today, almost 50 per cent of the credit is predominantly in the form of short-term credit. While this is good, the margins are relatively lower.

As we enter into the next fiscal, with more signs of stability showing up in the domestic as well as global economy, I would like to slightly change the composition of international credit. I may enhance the percentage of our long-term credit to some extent while not growing the overall size very aggressively. A little bit of shift towards long-term credit will give us better profitability from the international operations.

Another important requirement and initiative is on the Human Resources (HR) front.

In the coming two-three years, HR is going to be a big issue for public sector banks. By 2016-17, in the senior three layers of management — General Manager, Deputy General Manager and Assistant General Manager — I think between 50 to 80 per cent would be superannuating.

So, it is very important that you keep your middle management strong, identify the people, and groom them so that they are ready to take up higher responsibilities. This is to ensure that there is no management vacuum in the organisation. So, HR would remain a focus area.

The other priority is the asset quality. I have asked our bank to be on mission mode so that our asset quality, our recovery processes, our early warning signal detection processes are all further streamlined and become more efficient so that you don’t start correcting a situation when it is late. Rather do it in good time. In the December quarter, we have seen pressure on asset quality. It had already started becoming visible in June to some extent and in September to some extent. So, when we see that there is a trend (rising bad loans), I think it is wiser for any management to spot the trend and start action.

 

NPAs and restructured assets

Of late, the non-performing assets (NPAs) are more visible in the corporate segment. Obviously, if there is stress in the economy, SMEs would be affected. So, in the SME segment, the NPAs keep on coming. The remaining NPAs are from the mid-corporate segment. Retail is not seeing much incremental NPAs.

Restructuring is mostly from the large corporate and to some extent from the mid-corporate segments.

NPAs and restructuring are not sector-specific. Restructuring is now more account-specific.

The time has come in our system to start differentiating between NPA on account of financial reasons and NPA on account of policy and technical reasons. As I see, some of the reasons that will lead to more restructuring will be due to policy bottlenecks or delays in the commercial operations date.

So, if these things are corrected — lot of policy measures have already been announced — then probably things will start looking up. But as I indicated during our Q3 results, I still see at least a couple of quarters of pain in terms of NPAs and restructuring.

kram@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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HDFC Bank to charge customers for InstaAlert SMSes

The country’s second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank will begin charging its customers from tomorrow for its InstaAlert SMS service, under which the bank provides real-time alerts on account activities.

The bank’s InstaAlerts service allows customers to keep a track of various payments and receipts, get reminders for timely payment of utility bills and receive intimations when balance falls below a pre-specified limit, among other account activities.

“Effective April 1, 2013, customers registered for InstaAlerts through ‘SMS’ will be charged,” the bank said in a notification. However, InstaAlerts delivered through Emails would remain free.

Customers registered for InstaAlert service with ‘SMS’ as the delivery channel will be charged Rs 15 per quarter in case of salary or savings accounts, while the charge would be Rs 25 per quarter for Current Account customers.

Customers usually register InstaAlert service for alerts like debit transactions greater than a certain amount, credit in account greater than a specified sum, account balance below the minimum funds and weekly account balance. The alerts can be either event-based or frequency based.

The bank said that debit/credit card transaction alerts sent as per regulatory guidelines and NetBanking transaction alerts are not part of InstaAlert Service. Customers who are not registered for InstaAlert service will continue to get these alerts free of charge, it added.

Both resident and non-resident Indian customers are eligible for InstaAlert service on their savings or current accounts with HDFC Bank.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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Rs 90 lakh worth ICICI Prudential customer database stolen; police probe on

Fraudsters have managed to steal customer database from ICICI Prudential causing a “loss” of over Rs 90 lakh after some policy holders either surrendered or discontinued policies believing the cheats.

Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing have launched a probe into it following the registration of a case under sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act last week on a complaint filed by ICICI Prudential on March 3, a senior police official said.

The fraudsters made hundreds of calls to policy holders after managing to get hold of the customer database, inducing them to put money in certain accounts to avail bonus and providing wrong information about their policies among other acts.

“It appears that due to malicious practice of some unscrupulous people, ICICI Prudential has received complaints with regard to calls made allegedly on behalf of the company giving false promises of bonus, scholarship etc to genuine policy holders by tele-calling and inducing them to buy new policies of different agencies,” the official said. The tele-callers have stolen the data and misused it, he said.

According to the complaint filed by ICICI Prudential, certain people have been attempting to cheat its customers by impersonating as its representatives after stealing their details, including their policy details, from the database.

“... We received several complaints from our customers complaining about the phone calls being received from people posing employees of the company and as officials of IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) making various promises inducing them to do certain acts which were prejudicial for the interests of the customers.

“Till date, we have received a total of 712 complaints from our regular customers against such fake/spurious calls.

“We may point out that there is a possibility that a large number of customers might not have filed such complaints,” the complaint said.

ICICI Prudential also claimed that “eight insurance policies have been discontinued and 48 policies have been surrendered by our customers, resulting into a loss of Rs 90,93,188 to the company” due to these illegal actions though it was able to satisfy most of its customers and averted losses that could have incurred.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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IRDA introduces credit rating norm for selecting foreign reinsurers

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has tightened the norms for reinsurers. According to the IRDA (General Insurance – Reinsurance) Regulations 2013, notified in the Gazette recently, tough norms have been put in place for selecting reinsurers outside India.

In the reinsurance business, multiple insurance companies share the risk by purchasing insurance policies from other insurers to limit the total loss the original insurer would face in the case of a disaster.

According to the new IRDA norms, insurers should place their reinsurance business outside India with only those insurers who have a credit rating of at least “BBB” with Standard & Poor’s, or an equivalent rating by any other international agency for the past five years.

The past claims performance of the reinsurers should also be considered while accepting their participation in the reinsurance programme.

The domestic pool for reinsurance surpluses in fire, marine hull and other classes should be organised in consultation with all insurers on “fair” ground for retention of business with India in prescribed ratios, IRDA said.

The reinsurance programmes would commence from the beginning of every financial year. The details would have to be submitted to the regulator at least 45 days in advance.

One of the objectives of reinsurance programme, according to the regulator, is to maximise retention (the portion of risk which an insurer assumes for its own account).

The net retention of non-life insurers increased to 91.84 per cent in 2011-12 from 88.24 per cent in the previous year.

There are many reasons for reforms in the reinsurance business. IRDA found it difficult to track the audit trail of many transactions with regard to reinsurance placements and coinsurance.

Further, there has been a demand from the general insurers that a level playing field be created for foreign insurance companies and Indian reinsurers because, so far, there have been no restrictions in place for the foreign firms. The regulator also plans to introduce a hi-tech electronic platform for transactions and settlement.

naga.gunturi@thehindu.co.in


Source: thehindubusinessline

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Syndicate Bank to raise $500 m via MTN bond issue

Syndicate Bank said it would raise $500 million to fund its London operations through the medium term note (MTN) bond issue.

“The bank has board approval for a $500 million MTN bond issue. It could hit the overseas market between May and December this year, depending on the demand for credit,” Chairman and Managing Director of Syndicate Bank, M G Sanghvi said here.

The funds raised would be utilised for expanding the credit operations of the bank’s London branch, he said.

A medium-term note (MTN) is a debt security that usually matures in 5-10 years.

The bank’s London branch had reported total business of around Rs 43,000 crore by March 2013, as per provisional estimates.

“As per provisional estimates, the branch’s total advances are Rs 25,134 crore, while deposits are of Rs 18,301 crore,” Sanghvi said.

The PSU bank, had raised $500 million last year (2012), the second tranche under bank’s MTN programme of $1 billion. An equal sum was raised by the bank in 2011 through the same bond route.

Meanwhile, he said that the bank is likely to close this year with a total business of Rs 3.30 lakh crore, including global deposits of over Rs 1.64 lakh crore and global advances of over Rs 1.45 lakh crore by March 2013.

The bank’s net NPA in the first nine months (up to December 2012) of the fiscal marginally declined to 0.85 per cent from 0.86 per cent levels, while its capital adequacy ratio stood below 12 per cent.

The bank targeting to be Basel-III guidelines complaint by 2018, has sought capital infusion of Rs 1,400 crore from the Union Government.

“We had applied for capital infusion to the government last year, and expect some funds infusion this year as provision has been made in the Union budget,” Sanghvi said.

Rating agency, Moody had downgraded the bank reportedly on account of slippages, but had stated that the outlook was stable.

The global local currency deposit rating of Syndicate bank was lowered to Baa3/P-3 from Baa2/P-2.

“I have spoken to Moody on the downgrade, in the backdrop of our better quarter-to-quarter performance, and they have assured to (take a) re-look at the rating,” Sanghvi said.


Source: thehindubusinessline

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