IDBI Bank cuts retail term deposit rates

IDBI Bank has reduced its retail term deposit rates (deposits up to an amount less than Rs 1 crore) in two short-term maturity buckets.The bank’s retail deposit rates in two short-term buckets — 91 days to less than six months were cut by 50 basis points (bps) to 7.25 per cent and in six months to 269 days bucket by 15 bps to 8.5 per cent, the bank said in a statement.A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage points. The revised interest rates would come into effect from May 13, 2013.The reduction is considered in response to the signals...

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LIC’s new premium mop-up declines 6.5% in FY13

Having witnessed a drop in new premium collections in 2012-13, state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India aims to grow its business by 15 per cent this fiscal.According to Sushobhan Sarker, Managing Director, LIC, the growth in new premium collections would be achieved by increasing insurance penetration in underserved areas.In 2012-13, LIC registered a 6.5 per cent drop in new premium collection at Rs 76,245 crore compared with Rs 81,514 crore in the corresponding period last year.Over all, new premium collection by 23 life insurance...

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SBI signs pact with Korea bank to support SMEs

State Bank of India has signed a memorandum of understanding with Industrial Bank of Korea to support the business activities of Korean small and medium enterprises entering or already operating in India.The MoU would assist the Korean companies in meeting their financial requirements from SBI.Currently, there are 480 Korean SMEs operating in India. Industrial Bank of Korea currently does not have any branch presence in India.SBI is also setting up a representative office in Seoul. The MoU will help SBI get more Korean business not only for...

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IRDA norms on microinsurance in 2-3 months

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) hopes to bring out the final guidelines for microinsurance sector in two to three months.According to Sudhin Roy Chowdhury, Member (Life), IRDA, the guidelines will focus on the issues of product design and distribution.“We are looking at microinsurance from a different point of view. We want companies to design products wherein customers can get slightly higher returns than the premium deposited at maturity,” Chowdhury said at an insurance seminar organised by the Bengal Chamber of...

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Central Bank posts Rs 169-crore profit in Q4 on stable loan growth

Central Bank of India swung back into the black with a net profit of Rs 169 crore in the January-March quarter on the back of lower bad loans and stable loan growth.The public sector lender had posted a loss of Rs 105 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. Net profit for the immediately preceding December quarter stood at Rs 180 crore.Net interest income (difference between interest earned and expended) increased 25 per cent to Rs 153 crore.During the quarter, contributing to the profits were lower provisions of Rs 445 crore that declined by...

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SKS Microfinance posts Rs 2.7-crore profit in Q4

SKS Microfinance Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 2.7 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013.In the corresponding period of the previous financial year, the company incurred a loss of Rs 320 crore, SKS Micro said in a release on Wednesday.When contacted, its Chief Financial Officer Dilli Raj told Business Line that higher disbursements at Rs 1,295 crore, a 15 per cent hike in core interest income in non-AP portfolio, among others, drove the company to profits for a second consecutive quarter.SKS, which suffered losses for seven consecutive...

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Corporation Bank Q4 net up marginally at Rs 356 crore

Corporation Bank posted a marginal growth in net profit in the January to March quarter at Rs 356 crore on the back of higher provisioning and lower margins.The public sector lender had posted a net profit of Rs 351 crore in the fourth quarter in FY12.Net interest income (difference between interest income and expended) increased 12 per cent to Rs 931 crore (from Rs 834 crore in Q4FY12).As of March 2013, the total advances increased 18 per cent to Rs 1.19 lakh crore (from Rs 1.01 lakh crore in FY12), while deposits were higher by 22 per cent...

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South Indian Bank Q4 net climbs 26%

The Kerala-based South Indian Bank has posted a 25 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 502.27 crore for FY’13 against Rs 401.65 crore in the previous fiscal.Net profit for the fourth quarter increased to Rs 153.83 crore from Rs 121.95 crore, a growth of 26.13 per cent. Dividend The board has recommended a dividend of Re 0.70 per share against Rs 0.60 per share in the previous year.Total business increased from Rs 64,136 crore to Rs 76,425 crore registering a growth of 19.16 per cent.While deposits have gone up from Rs 36,501 crore to Rs...

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HDFC net soars 17% in Q4 on strong loan demand

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) posted a 17 per cent increase in fourth-quarter standalone net profit aided by strong demand for home loans from individual customers.In the January to March period, India’s largest private home loan provider posted a net profit of Rs 1,555 crore against Rs 1,326 crore, a year ago. Income from operations increased 16 per cent to Rs 5,561 crore.About 81 per cent of the incremental growth in the loan book during the year came from individual loans, the company said. “Most of the loan growth came...

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UCO Bank profit slumps 80% to Rs 50 cr in Q4

Higher provisioning, driven by a stress in asset quality, dragged down UCO Bank net profit in the fourth quarter by nearly 80 per cent. Net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, stood at Rs 50 crore.Provisioning increased by 114 per cent to Rs 977 crore (Rs 456 crore).The bank’s board has recommended a dividend of Re 1 per share of face value of Rs 10 each.On a sequential basis, profits declined by 51 per cent from Rs 102 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2012.Gross non-performing assets as a percentage to advances increased...

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Bank of America to pay $1.7 billion to MBIA to settle mortgage dispute

Bank of America is settling a case brought by its bond insurer, MBIA, in their battle over responsibility for losses during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the two companies said on Monday.Bank of America will pay MBIA 1.7 billion dollars, and the bank will receive a 5-per-cent stake in the bond insurer in return, the companies said.MBIA will drop demands that Bank of America’s Countrywide unit buy back the soured home loans that the insurer had guaranteed, Bloomberg news service reported.New York’s superintendent of financial services, Benjamin...

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HSBC Q1 net profit more than doubles to $ 6.35 b

Asia-focused bank HSBC announced on Tuesday that net profits more than doubled to $ 6.35 billion (4.86 billion euros) in the first quarter, aided by tumbling bad debts and cost cutting.Earnings after taxation surged 146 per cent in the three months to the end of March, from $ 2.58 billion in the same part of 2012, the lender said in a results statement.Underlying pre-tax profits, stripping out exceptional items, soared 34 per cent to $ 7.6 billion. Revenues rose five percent to $ 17.6 billion.“We have had a good start to the year, with growth...

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Karnataka Bank, Kotak Mahindra deny merger

Kotak Mahindra Bank has filed a clarification to the stock exchanges denying the rumour on its takeover of Karnataka Bank.Karnataka Bank has also issued a statement to the exchanges that it denied the news of its merger with any other bank.The news of the merger appeared in a newspaper with the headline ‘Takeover buzz lifts Karnataka Bank’.Source: thehindubusinesslin...

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Dewan Housing Finance profit jumps 48% in FY13

Dewan Housing Finance Corp (DHFL) reported a 48 per cent increase in full-year net profit aided by strong growth in disbursements, especially in tier-II and tier-III cities.In FY 2012-13, the home loan provider posted a net profit of Rs 452 crore against Rs 306 crore, a year ago.Total disbursements during the year increased 47 per cent to Rs 13,358 crore.The January to March quarter figures are not strictly comparable as the previous quarter’s results did not include the performance of recently amalgamated First Blue Home Finance Ltd.The average...

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KVB ties up for e-remittance

Karur Vysya Bank has tied up with Lulu International Exchange, Abu Dhabi and GCC Exchange House, Dubai for electronic remittance.Under the speed remittance arrangement, the proceeds will be credited to the beneficiaries account electronically, on the same day itself.The bank has the capability to credit the proceeds to the beneficiaries’ accounts with other banks in India, through the NEFT mode, a spokesperson of the bank said. Source: thehindubusinesslin...

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Allahabad Bank Q4 net dips 68% on higher provisioning

Allahabad Bank posted 68 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 126 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, on account of higher provisioning for non-performing assets and a dip in core incomeDuring the quarter, the bank added fresh slippages worth Rs 2,586 crore. Provisioning increased by 28 per cent to Rs 641 crore, of which, NPA provisions stood at Rs 513 crore.The bank’s board has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per share of face value of Rs 10 each.According to Shubhalakshmi Panse, Chairman and Managing Director of Allahabad Bank, higher...

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SBI rules out immediate cut in lending rates

State Bank of India (SBI) ruled out any immediate cut in lending rates even as the Reserve Bank had reduced policy rate by 0.25 per cent earlier this week.“With repo rate (short-term lending rate) cut, we don’t get savings because our total repo borrowing is 20,000 crore,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said here.“So if you (RBI) reduce rate by 25 basis points, the saving is 50 crore. Total advance is 5 lakh crore which comes to 1 bps,” he said.Had there been a cut in CRR, it would have would have provides room for cut, he said. The bank will...

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IRDA probing money laundering allegations against insurers

Insurance regulator IRDA said it is examining the allegations of money laundering levelled against LIC, Reliance Life, Tata AIA and Birla Sunlife and action will be taken against the guilty at the earliest.“The insurance companies concerned have been asked to file a report on the allegations. The matter is under examination and appropriate action will be taken at the earliest,” Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said in a release.In its expose earlier in the day, Cobrapost has named as many as 23 public and private sector...

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Muthoot Capital FY net up 40%

Muthoot Capital Services Ltd has posted a 40 per cent growth in its net profit in FY13 touching Rs 21.76 crore against Rs 15.51 crore in the previous year.The total revenue reached Rs 107.22 crore compared with Rs 67.35 crore in the previous year, registering a growth of 59 per cent. The total loan disbursements also jumped 49 per cent to Rs 431.16 crore (Rs 288.45 crore).The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 4 for a share (40 per cent).The profit for the quarter ended March 31 recorded a growth of three per cent to Rs 6.58 crore against...

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South Indian Bank Q4 net up 26%

South Indian Bank has reported a 26 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 153.83 crore for the fourth quarter of 2012-13 fiscal.The net profit stood at Rs 121.95 crore during the same quarter (January-March) of the previous fiscal. Total income rose to 1,286.37 crore from Rs 1,076.36 crore, the bank said in a filing to the BSE.For 2012-13 fiscal, the net profit stood at Rs 502.27 crore against Rs 401.65 crore last fiscal and the income stood at Rs 4,769.22 crore compared with Rs 3,830.50 crore.During Q4, the net non-performing asset (NPAs) or bad...

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IOB focuses on bad loan recovery

Indian Overseas Bank will step up its thrust on making recoveries from bad loans in FY2014, said a top official. The public sector bank has set a target to recover Rs 2,500 crore from bad loans in FY2014, against Rs 1,700 crore recovered in FY2013, according to Chairman and Managing Director M. Narendra. “We have vested our branch managers with power to enter into one-time settlement with borrowers, whose loan outstanding is up to Rs 5 lakh. Further, we are organising camps (loan recovery) and resorting to Lok Adalats to make recoveries,” said...

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