Corporation Bank Q1 profit declines 12%

An increase in provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) brought down Corporation Bank’s net profit by 11.75 per cent during the first quarter of 2015-16.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, SR Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director, said the bank registered a net profit of Rs.204.26 crore in the quarter againstRs.231.47 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The net provisions for NPAs stood at Rs.604.23 crore against Rs.466.08 crore, an increase of 29.64 per cent.

Bansal said that the provision coverage ratio with respect to gross NPA increased to 57.17 per cent as against 52.19 per cent earlier.

The gross and net NPAs stood at 5.43 per cent (3.96 per cent) and 3.55 per cent (2.71 per cent) respectively.

The net interest income of the bank increased to Rs.1,080.72 crore (Rs.944.24 crore), and non-interest income to Rs.401.83 crore (Rs.361.60 crore) during the period.

“The focus is on making the fundamentals of the bank strong,” Bansal said.

On the share of CASA (current account savings account) deposit to the total deposits, Bansal said it stood at 18.92 per cent.

The bank is targeting a CASA share of 25 per cent by the end of the current financial year, he said.

Bulk deposits

Stating that the bank has taken steps to bring down bulk deposits, Bansal said the share of such deposits have come down from 54 per cent in June 2014 to 51 per cent in March 2015. At the end of June 2015, it came down to 49.5 per cent, he said.

He said advances to large industries were down 2.12 per cent. Advances to agriculture and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) recorded a growth of 42.41 per cent and 4.40 per cent, respectively. Corporation Bank shares closed at Rs.54.05, up 0.46 per cent from the previous close, on the BSE on Friday.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Jan Dhan: number of zero-balance a/cs has come down

The percentage of zero-balance accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is coming down in Corporation Bank, according to SR Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Friday, he said that the percentage of zero balance accounts has come down from 31.89 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014-15 to 27.76 per cent in the first quarter of 2015-16.

The bank had opened 22,99,720 accounts under the scheme. The balance in these accounts stood at Rs.535.78 crore as on June 30.

He said the average balance in the non-zero balance accounts is Rs.3,225 per account as against the national average of Rs.2,403.

Asked about the reason for this, Bansal said the bank had done the assessment of credit at the time of the survey for implementing PMJDY. This helped the bank to meet the credit needs of PMJDY account holders, thus bringing down the percentage of zero balance accounts.

Corporation Bank was allotted 2,291 villages in rural areas and 951 wards in urban areas across 23 States under the scheme.

Of the 22,99,720 accounts opened under PMJDY, RuPay card has been issued to 98.74 per cent of the accounts. Passbooks have been issued to 89.66 per cent of accounts.

He said 59.70 per cent of the accounts opened under PMJDY have been seeded with Aadhaar numbers.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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IndusInd Bank allots shares worth Rs. 753 crore

Private lender IndusInd Bank has approved an allotment of nearly 88 lakh equity shares valued at around Rs. 753 crore to IndusInd International Holdings Ltd and others.

The Finance Committee of the bank approved the allotment of equity shares at a meeting today, IndusInd Bank said in a BSE filing.

“IndusInd Bank...today approved allotment of 87,81,360 equity shares of face value of Rs. 10 each to IndusInd International Holdings Ltd and its subsidiary, Induslnd Ltd, promoters of the bank, on a preferential basis,” the statement said.

The shares have been allotted at an offer price of Rs. 857.20 per equity share, aggregating to Rs. 752,73,81,792, it said.

As on June 30, 2015, IndusInd Bank had 811 branches and 1,543 ATMs spread across the country

The bank also has representative offices in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Shares of the bank traded at Rs. 952 a piece on BSE, down 0.09 per cent from the previous close.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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IRDAI to notify corporate agency norms in 3 weeks

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) will notify the final corporate agency norms under bancassurance in three weeks from now, according to its Chairman T S Vijayan.

Speaking to newspersons after formally launching the sale of insurance policies of HDFC Life through common service centres here on Thursday, he said the gazette notification will give some time for transition and the new norms will be effective April 1, 2016.

In its draft norms issued earlier, the regulator has proposed to allow banks to tie up with three insurers each in life and non-life for corporate agency. As of now, banks are permitted to function as a corporate agency for only one insurer each in life and non-life sectors.

On the growth of insurance industry, the Chairman said all would depend on the growth in the gross domestic product. "Around 15 per cent growth will be good for FY16,’’ he added when asked on the projections for this year.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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ICICI Bank eyes Rs. 3,000 cr from dollar bond issue

ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, will raise up to $500 million (over Rs. 3,000 crore) by selling five-year dollar bonds to overseas investors.

The issue opened earlier on Wednesday and will be closing by late evening, after which the final pricing will be known.

The initial pricing guidance for the issue is 180 basis points above the five-year US treasury yield. On Tuesday, five-year US treasury notes closed at a yield of 1.625 per cent. One basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

This year, it is ICICI Bank’s first dollar bond and it has previously raised $500 million in September last year, tapping the same issue again in December by $200 million, said a person familiar with the development.

It is part of the bank’s $7.5 billion MTN (medium-term note) programme and the issue will be originated from the bank’s Dubai branch.

“This is an opportunistic issue. The bank does not need the money urgently but the market is constructive and the pricing is better,” the person added.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC), Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and Co, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered are the bankers to the issue.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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UCO Bank pays Rs 156.67 cr dividend

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has paid a dividend of Rs 156.67 crore to the Centre for the year 2014-15. Last fiscal, it had declared a dividend of 20 per cent. A cheque in this regard was handed over to the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley by the bank’s CMD, Arun Kaul. The Centre holds 72.83 per cent in UCO Bank.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank net declines 41% to Rs. 478 cr

State-run lender Canara Bank today reported 40.65 per cent decline in net profit at Rs. 478.84 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2015 as it parked a higher share towards contingencies for bad loans.

The Bengaluru-headquartered bank’s net profit in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal stood at Rs. 806.86 crore, Canara Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

The bank’s share for provisions and contingencies rose over 72 per cent during the first quarter of 2015-16 to Rs. 1,359.73 crore from Rs. 788.14 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total income during the quarter under review rose to Rs. 12,252.64 crore from Rs. 11,728.01 crore a year ago, registering a growth of 4.5 per cent, the filing added.

The bank’s asset quality fell further as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans stood at 3.98 per cent of gross advances in the first quarter of 2015-16. It was 2.67 per cent of gross advances in the same period of 2014-15.

Net NPAs too slipped at 2.74 per cent of net advances as against 2.03 per cent a year ago. Also, the bank made a provision of Rs. 151.47 crore as arrears for wage revision.

Besides, the bank’s liability on unhedged foreign currency exposure was at Rs. 85.34 crore during the quarter.

Further in May, Canara Bank had allotted 4 crore equity shares at a premium of Rs. 370.08 to LIC on preferential basis for a total consideration of Rs. 1,520.32 crore.

Canara Bank shares were trading 1.52 per cent down at Rs. 304.70 apiece during afternoon trade on the BSE.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Andhra Bank to auction Deccan Chronicle's property in Bengaluru on Sept 10

Andhra Bank will auction Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd's (DCHL) immovable property in Bengaluru on September 10, 2015 through e-auction to recover the loan dues.

According to a sale and e-auction notice issued by the bank, DCHL had availed itself of the credit facilities to the tune of about Rs 200 crore from Andhra Bank’s Sultan Bazar Branch and had defaulted to pay.

Andhra Bank had taken possession of two properties of Deccan Chronicle Holdings worth Rs 160 crore located in Chennai and Bengaluru under the provisions of Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (Sarfaesi) Act in 2013.

According to a senior official of the bank, the properties are ‘clean’ and exclusive to Andhra Bank, and the proceeds need not be shared with any other lender.

Andhra Bank is one of the lenders of the company along with ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, IDBI Bank, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and State Bank of Hyderabad. The total loan dues of DCHL stands at Rs 4,000 crore.

State Bank of Hyderabad, Indian Overseas Bank and Canara Bank had filed cases against DCHL independently.

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Source : Thehindubusinessline

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United Bank net drops 21% on higher provisioning

Dragged down by higher provisioning, the Kolkata-based United Bank of India (UBI) has reported an over 21 per cent dip in net profit to Rs. 52 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. Net profit in the corresponding quarter last fiscal stood at Rs. 66 crore.

Provisioning increased by over 16 per cent to Rs. 494 crore for the quarter under review (Rs 425 crore in the year-ago-period). Total income too dipped 3.5 per cent to Rs. 2,897 crore.

Gross non-performing assets per cent improved to 9.57 per cent in the first three months of the current fiscal against 10.49 per cent in the year-ago period. Net NPA per cent too improved to 6.3 per cent (7.23 per cent).


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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HSBC India plans to launch ‘green bonds’ this year

HSBC India is planning to launch ‘green bonds’ this year to enable fund raising for investments in projects with environmental benefits, the private sector bank’s Chairman Naina Lal Kidwai said today.

“HSBC is the world’s fourth largest issuer of green bonds. We are big player. We are working to get this in India.

We are working with key authorities on this issue. Most probably we will launch this year,” Kidwai told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI event.

She did not divulge the size of green bonds saying that the discussions on the new product are at a nascent stage.

Globally, the green bonds market has tripled to $37 billion in last two years, Kidwai said, adding that India’s market for these bonds is “just the tip of the iceberg” and there is scope to grow.

Some banks like Axis Bank and Yes Bank have come out with such bonds. In February, Yes Bank had raised Rs 1,000 crore against a targeted Rs 500 crore by issuing green infrastructure bonds

Besides green bonds, Kidwai also emphasised on creating ‘Yieldcos’ that enable access to low cost liquid and generate predicable cash flows by bundling up renewable assets with long-term power purchase agreements.

“For Yieldcos, we need large amount of support from regulatory SEBI. We hope it clears the way for this product soon,” she added.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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IDBI Bank opens first self service mini branch kiosk

IDBI Bank has launched its first self service Mini Branch Kiosk at its Cuffe Parade, Mumbai Branch.

The kiosk will address the customer’s request of personalised cheque leaves dispensation and issue of Demand Draft & Pay Order on 24X7 basis. It also has the functionalities of ATM, the bank said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, B K Batra, DMD, indicated that the bank will install more such 24x7 banking facilities so that its customer can do banking at their own convenience and time.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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