Strike call: IBA invites bank unions for discussions post-noon

The Indian Banks' Association (IBA), which represents the management of banks, has said the all-India strike call given by the unions on August 22 is "totally unwarranted".

S.K. Kakkar, Senior Advisor, Human Resources and Industrial Relations, IBA, made this observation in a communication to Sanjeev K Bandlish, convenor of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

'BEYOND IBA BRIEF'

Kakkar acknowledged receipt of UFBU's letter to the Chairman, IBA, informing him of the decision of member unions - AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE,AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW and NOBO - to go on strike.

The IBA has gone through the demands raised by the UFBU but observed that most of the issues are at the macro-level where the government has to take a decision.

The IBA can facilitate taking up these issues in the appropriate forum. In addition, there are other issues which are under bipartite discussions, for which talks have been initiated.

"We regret to point out that under these circumstances, the UFBU has called for a strike, which is totally unwarranted," the IBA letter said.

'HAS OPEN MIND'

The IBA, therefore, requested the unions to reconsider their decision and refrain from undertaking the agitation programme.

It extended an invitation to the UFBU to its office this afternoon along with a representative each from the officers' association and workmen's union to discuss matters "with an open mind."

The IBA also expressed the hope that the UFBU would consider the request being a responsible representative of employee unions and desist from the agitation path that would cause inconvenience to bank employees and put the general public at large to avoidable hardship.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

Read more »

Muthoot Finance Q1 net up 30%

Muthoot Finance posted a 30 per cent increase in net profit at Rs.351 crore in the first quarter of FY18 against Rs.270 crore in the previous year.

The company’s loan assets rose Rs.574 crore during the quarter. Its loan assets stood at Rs.27,852 crore as at end-June.

The board has decided to acquire the remaining 11.73 per cent in Muthoot Homefin (India), which is held by other shareholders, at an aggregate price of Rs.38.72 crore. With this acquisition, MHIL will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Muthoot Finance.

Further, the board has decided to infuse Rs.100 crore in MHIL as equity share capital. During the quarter, MHIL’s loan portfolio increased by Rs.155 crore to Rs.596 crore.

Belstar Investment and Finance, a microfinance NBFC in which Muthoot Finance holds 64.60 per cent stake, grew its loan portfolio 11 per cent to Rs.628 crore.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

Read more »

HDFC Bank increasing its term financing exposure riding on demand

HDFC Bank, India’s most valuable private sector bank, is slowly increasing its term financing exposure riding on demand for financing from the road and power transmission sector as it seeks to diversify its balance sheet.

Though working capital loans still dominate the bank’s corporate balance sheet, it is increasing looking at term loans especially refinancing opportunities, executive director Kaizad Bharucha said.

“Though 80% to 85% of our loans were working capital loans, it was not as if we were averse to term financing. But as our balance sheet has increased we have to diversify our lending as well. There are increasing opportunities in refinancing, even though private capex is yet to kick in,” Bharucha said.

Loans to companies or wholesale loans made up 46% of the bank’s loan book as of June 2017. The bank’s total advances as of June stood at Rs 5.80 lakh crore out of which 30% were term loans, up slightly from 27% a year ago, Bharucha said.

HDFC Bank is looking at opportunities especially in road projects under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) under which is a mixture of the built operate transfer (BOT) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) models in road development. “Besides roads we also have interest in transmission. We will ultimately lend prudently and to projects in which we have seasoned with the management and know the company,” Bharucha said.

On Tuesday, HDFC Bank was ranked number one among banks in India by a annual survey of US based Greenwich Associates on the basis of interviews with CFOs and treasurers of 500 middle market and large companies.


Source : Economic Times

Read more »

Axis Bank cuts interest rate on savings bank account

Private sector lender Axis Bank reduced interest rate on savings bank accounts by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent for deposits up to Rs 50 lakh.

However, the bank will continue to pay 4 per cent interest on deposits of above Rs 50 lakh.

Axis Bank is the fourth lender to reduce the interest rate after market leader State Bank of India (SBI) begun the process of reducing interest rate on savings bank account.

"... the bank has revised the interest rate downward on Savings Account balance by 50 bps to 3.50 per cent per annum on balance of up to Rs 50 lakh," Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The new interest rates will be effective from 08/08/2017, it added.

On July 31, SBI slashed interest rate on savings account deposits by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent on balance of Rs 1 crore and below.


Source : Economic Times

Read more »