Oriental Bank announces interim dividend of Rs 4 per share

It appears to be virtually a season of interim dividends for PSU stock holders with Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) joining the list of PSUs to announce such a move.The bank's Board of Directors today approved interim dividend at Rs 4 per share for 2013-14, subject to the Centre’s approval, the bank said in a filing with the stock exchanges.Apparently, the GoI wants the PSUs to come out with generous payouts to meet its cash crunch and the market is already betting on one of the largest such payouts from Coal India Ltd. Source: Thehindubus...

Read more »

On expansion mode, Syndicate Bank to recruit 5,000 next fiscal

Syndicate Bank plans to recruit around 5,000 new staff in 2014-15.In an informal chat with Business Line, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the office of the Field General Manager of the bank at Manipal on Friday, S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director said some retirements are due in the coming year and the bank also plans to open more branches.Considering this, the bank will recruit around 2,500 officers and an equal number of clerical staff. Of this, around 750 will be specialised officers.The bank, which opened 145 branches during...

Read more »

Slowing retail growth may impact earnings

IndusInd Bank kicked off the results season for banks on a slightly muted note. While the bank managed to deliver strong earnings growth, pressure on asset quality and slowing growth in retail loans played spoilsport. The stock lost 3 per cent on Friday.Loans have grown at a steady pace over the last three years, and this quarter too, 24 per cent growth in lending supported the core performance of the bank. However, the weak link in the lending profile was the slowdown in high-yielding retail loans that have been the main driver of loan growth...

Read more »

Muthoot Finance hopes to regain lost business

Muthoot Finance expects to recoup, in the next two-three quarters, the business it lost to the unorganised sector in the last two years or so as the central bank has relaxed the restriction on the amount of loan that non-banking finance companies can give against the pledge of gold jewellery.According to George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director, Muthoot Finance, the company lost almost 14 per cent of its business to the unorganised sector after the RBI, in March 2012, restricted the amount of loan that non-banking finance companies can lend...

Read more »

Central banks of India, Japan tie up

The central banks of India and Japan have concluded an agreement that expands the maximum amount of the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) between Japan and India to $50 billion.With this agreement, the current BSA, effective for 3 years from 2012 to 2015, is expanded from the original size of $15 billion, the RBI said in a statement.The BSA will now enable both countries to swap their local currencies (i.e., either Japanese yen or Indian rupee) against the dollar for an amount up to $50 billionThe BSA was signed by Governor Haruhiko Kuroda of...

Read more »

LIC launches new Jeevan Anand plan

LIC has re-launched its “Jeevan Anand” plan, a participating non-linked plan which offers an attractive combination of protection and savings.This product provides financial protection against death throughout the lifetime of the policyholder with a special feature wherein it offers cover for whole life even after payment of maturity amount.The policy can be taken from age 18 years to 50 years with age of policyholder on policy maturity age not exceeding 75 years. The policyholder can choose policy term from minimum 15 years to maximum of 35...

Read more »

Development Credit Bank renamed

Private sector lender Development Credit Bank Ltd will now be DCB Bank Ltd, an Reserve Bank of India notification said on Friday. “We advise that the name of ‘Development Credit Bank Limited’ has been changed to ‘DCB Bank Ltd’ in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 with effect from October 24, 2013,” RBI said. DCB bank, which was converted into a scheduled commercial bank from a co-operative bank, has a network of 100 branches across 15 States in the country. The bank’s net profit for FY12-13 was at Rs 102 crore compared...

Read more »

HDFC plans to raise $ 300 mn

Housing Finance firm HDFC Ltd said it plans to raise $ 300 million through external commercial borrowing (ECB) to fund its expansion.“About $ 300 million, we are going to raise but we have to wait for interest rate to stabilise,” HDFC Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Keki M Mistry told PTI.Asked whether the raising of funds will happen this fiscal or the next one, he said it is not yet decided.HDFC is raising the money under the $ 1 billion ECB window for housing finance companies that the Reserve Bank allowed for funding affordable...

Read more »

SBI red flags asset quality, says strain will last for 3 more quarters

Faced with rising stressed assets over the past two years, SBI has said it does not expect to come out of the woods till the end of 2014 and an uptick in growth is central to the turnaround of the banking system.“Even when I joined I had said that I do not see anything (improvement in asset quality) before three quarters and I continue to maintain that. I don’t think you can see a turnaround that fast,” State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya told PTI in an interview.Replying to questions on bad assets, she said some improvement...

Read more »

IT-enabled services from Vijaya Bank

In pursuing excellence in customer service, Vijaya Bank has identified Information Technology to be the key driver for enhancing the banking experience.This has led the bank to launch IT-enabled services for customers. Vijaya Bank is one of the first few banks to achieve 100 per cent CBS implementation, large-scale ATM installation, launch of net banking, mobile banking, and transaction-related SMS alerts.The bank, on its 83rd anniversary, launched V-ePassBook+ — a mobile application that lets the user carry passbook details on his/her mobile...

Read more »

Bank of Maharashtra to focus on small-scale, retail segments

Bank of Maharashtra has opted for qualitative realignment of assets and plans to focus more on advances to the micro, medium and small enterprises and retail segment instead of large corporates.Currently, the bank has an exposure of 11 per cent to the retail sector and 16 per cent to the MSME sector.“We have set a target of 15 per cent to the retail sector and 20 per cent to MSME sector by next fiscal (2014-15),” Chairman and Managing Director Sushil Muhnot, told Business Line.For speedy recovery of MSME and retail stressed assets, the bank...

Read more »

PSU bank employees to go on 2-day strike from Jan 20: UFBU

Operations at all the public sector banks and regional rural banks are likely to be affected for two days from January 20 as the United Forum of Banks Unions has given a strike call, demanding wage revision as well as the resolution of certain other issues.The National Convener of UFBU M. V. Murali told PTI today the Centre and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) have failed to settle the 14-month long pending demand for 32 per cent wage revision for about a million strong staff in the banking sector.He also urged the Government to immediately...

Read more »

SyndMobile – offers many choices

In an effort to provide an additional delivery channel to customers, Syndicate Bank introduced Mobile Banking services such as balance enquiry, mini statement of account, inter, intra-bank fund transfer, and cheque book request. Everyone can use SyndMobile using any type of phone — be it a basic phone or the latest smart phones.Syndicate Bank is one of the first banks to enable mobile banking in the latest Windows 7.5/8 phones, and also one of the few banks which have enabled remittance by using bank account and IFSC code of the beneficiary...

Read more »

Vijaya Bank targets CASA share at 25% of total deposits in 2 years

Vijaya Bank hopes to take its CASA (current account/savings account) deposits to 25 per cent of its total deposits over the next two years to bring down its costs.Its immediate target is to increase CASA to 20 per cent from 17.83 per cent of its total deposits now, according to V. Kannan, Chairman and Managing Director. Vijaya Bank will enhance its service to grow the CASA deposits.This will “enable us to compete with our peers better,” he said. CASA of most other public sector banks stands above 35 per cent.The move will also help the bank...

Read more »

J&K Bank to increase credit to over Rs 25,000 cr in next 3 years

Expressing satisfaction over the performance of J&K Bank in various sectors, its Chairman & CEO Mushtaq Ahmad has said the lender will continue to take steps for further improvements and increase credit levels to over Rs 25,000 crore from the current Rs 18,000 crore."In next two to three years, J&K Bank's credit book will increase beyond Rs 25,000 crore from the existing Rs 18,000 crore," Ahmed said.He was delivering the inaugural lecture at valedictory function of Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the bank here last night in the...

Read more »

Banks free to charge 'reasonable ATM fees': RBI's Chakrabarty

Amid growing clamour from banks to charge customers for transactions at ATMs to make them economically viable, RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty on Thursday said the regulator will have no objections if the lenders charge "reasonable fee" for such services. "If banks charge a reasonable fee on ATM transactions then the RBI will have no objections," Chakrabarty, in charge of banking services at RBI, told reporters on the sidelines of an event here this evening. The senior-most Deputy Governor said till now, no request has come from the banks...

Read more »

Corporation Bank launches campaign for agri credit delivery

Corporation Bank has launched a year-long campaign for the delivery of agriculture credit and financial inclusion initiatives at all its branches.A statement by the bank said here that the campaign has been launched in tune with the ‘International Year of Family Farming’, declared by the United Nations for 2014.The focus of Corporation Bank will be to assist farming families, especially having small and marginal holdings; the weaker sections, minority communities, and self-help groups and joint liability groups, it said.Lending to agriculture and allied activities to farming families and assessing their needs comprehensively will be pursued during the camps at the bank’s branches.Extending...

Read more »