Dinabandhu Mohapatra takes charge as Canara Bank ED

Dinabandhu Mohapatra, the new Executive Director of Canara Bank, is a post-graduate with a degree in Law, CAIIB and Diploma in Computer Application.

Mohapatra, who took charge as ED of Canara Bank recently, started his banking career with Bank of India as Probationary Officer in 1984.


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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Canara Bank posts Rs. 613-cr net profit

State-owned Canara Bank today reported a net profit of Rs. 612.96 crore during the last quarter of 2014-15 financial year against Rs. 610.8 crore in the same period previous year.

Total income increased to Rs. 12,429.21 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2015, from Rs. 11,609.72 crore in the same period last fiscal, the bank said in a BSE filing.

Gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances rose to 3.89 per cent during the quarter under review from 2.49 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

Net NPAs went up to 2.65 per cent from 1.98 per cent.

For the full fiscal 2014-15, the bank’s net profit rose 10.8 per cent to Rs. 2,702.63 crore from Rs. 2,438.19 crore in the previous fiscal.

Total income increased to Rs. 48,300.29 crore during the year ended March 31, 2015, from Rs. 43,480.37 crore during the year ended March 31, 2014.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank to get Rs 1,500 crore fund infusion from LIC soon

State-owned Canara Bank is likely to get fund infusion of up to Rs 1,500 crore from the country's largest insurance firm Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) next month.

"The fund would be raised by issuing 4 crore shares through preferential allotment and the capital raised would be utilised for business growth," a senior Canara Bank official said.

At the current market price, Canara Bank would be able to raise about Rs 1,500 crore by issuing shares on preferential basis.

The bank has fixed March 31 as the relevant date for purpose of determination of pricing of shares at which shares would be issued to the insurer, the official said.

As of December 2014, LIC held 6.4 per cent stake, or 2.95 crore shares, in the bank.

The bank already has got in-principle approval from LIC for subscription of up to 4 crore shares.

As per the approval letter from LIC, the official said, total exposure cannot exceed 15 per cent of post issue capital of the bank at any point of time.

The board of Canara Bank has already given approval for issuance of preference shares. The bank would seek shareholders' nod for the same on April 30.

After approval from the Extraordinary General Meeting, preferential issue in favour of LIC would be done, the official added.

For the third quarter ended December 2014, Canara Bank reported 60.2 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 655.92 crore despite increase in bad loans.

The Bangalore-based lender had posted a net profit of Rs 409.35 crore for the October-December quarter of 2013-14 fiscal.

The bank's total income increased to Rs 12,227.86 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 10,935.29 crore in the year-ago period.

As far as asset quality of the bank is concerned, gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances rose to 3.35 per cent from 2.79 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

Its net NPAs went up to 2.42 per cent from 2.39 per cent at the end of December 2013.

Gross NPAs in absolute terms rose to Rs 10,573.57 crore as compared to Rs 8,073.92 crore at the end of December 2013.

Source : Economic Times

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Canara Bank scholarship scheme

Canara Bank has launched the Canara Vidya Jyothi scholarship scheme for the current academic year 2014-15. Under the scheme, each rural branch will extend scholarships to six girl students from standard 5 to 10 and belonging to the SC/ST category for pursing studies in a government school. The scholarship amount will range from Rs.2,500 to Rs.5,000, depending upon the class of study. K Kishore Kumar, Deputy General Manager of the bank, launched the scheme by handing over scholarships to six students of the Government VHSS at Vattiyoorkavu here on Thursday.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank net profit vaults 60% to Rs. 656 cr

State-run Canara Bank today reported 60.2 per cent increase in net profit at Rs. 655.92 crore for the quarter ended December despite an increase in bad loans.

The Bangalore-based lender had posted a net profit of Rs. 409.35 crore for the October-December quarter of 2013—14 fiscal.

The bank’s total income increased to Rs. 12,227.86 crore for the quarter under review from Rs. 10,935.29 crore in the year-ago period, Canara Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

As far as asset quality of the bank is concerned, gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances rose to 3.35 per cent from 2.79 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

Its net NPAs went up to 2.42 per cent from 2.39 per cent at the end of December 2013.

Gross NPAs in absolute terms rose to Rs. 10,573.57 crore as compared to Rs. 8,073.92 crore at the end of December 2013.

However, total provisions, excluding for income tax, made during the third quarter of 2014—15 were Rs. 841.33 crore as against Rs. 1,051.51 crore in the year—ago period.

Operating profit increased to Rs. 1,797.30 crore as against Rs. 1,590.86 crore in the corresponding period.

During the first three quarters of 2014—15, Canara Bank posted 7.5 per cent decline in profit at Rs. 2,443.17 crore as compared to Rs. 2,641.73 crore in the year—ago period.

The bank’s total income for the nine month period in the current fiscal stood at Rs. 35,871.08 crore as compared to Rs. 31,870.65 crore in the same period of previous financial year.

Shares of Canara Bank were trading 2.71 per cent up at Rs. 450.70 per unit during afternoon session on the BSE.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank’s Rs 1,500-cr bond issue

Canara Bank has decided to raise an additional Rs.1,500 crore through Tier I bonds. In a notice to the BSE on Monday, the bank said it plans to raise the amount through the issue of Basel-III complaint additional Tier-I perpetual bonds by way of private placement. The bank received ‘IND AA’ rating from India Ratings & Research and ‘AA Hybrid with Stable Outlook’ from ICRA for the proposed issue. Canara Bank shares ended 2.63 per cent higher at Rs.454.75 on the BSE on Monday. The bank will announce its third quarter results on Wednesday.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank ties up with Origo Commodities for agri loans

Public sector lender Canara Bank entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Origo Commodities, a post-harvest management services company, to support farmers with warehouse receipt financing across the country.

Warehouse receipt financing is a tool that enables farmers to avail financing and avoid “Distress Sale” of their produce. The MoU between Canara Bank and Origo Commodities will focus across multiple states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra among others,” company said in a statement. Origo Commodities has presence across 15 states.

S Ramesh, General Manager, Canara Bank said, “Given the importance of Produce Loan Financing, this MoU will go a long way in helping the farmer clientele of Canara Bank. The MoU will be win-win situation for all the parties, and allow farmers to take benefit of the produce loan scheme to improve yields and better their living standards.”

The partnership is cumulatively targeting more than Rs. 1,000-crore business under Warehouse Receipt Financing in the coming season.


Source : The Hindu

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Canara Bank keen to extend financial support to budding entrepreneurs

After completing a certification course in tailoring, Hema, 35 and mother of two, sought to cater to the needs of her neighbours. She could not establish a tailoring shop as this required some investment.

“The small money that I made helped buy books for the children, vegetables and at times some stuff for the family,” she said.

Sitting besides Hema was Manjula, who after completing a beautician course was working in a beauty parlour for close to a year.

Both these women were among the 60-odd persons identified by Avinashilingam Jan Shikshan Sansthan at the instance of Canara Bank MSME Facilitation Centre here for collateral free loan to establish a venture on their own.

The MSME Facilitation Centre in Coimbatore is among the five centres mooted by Canara Bank to cater to the needs of the MSMEs in particular. The other centres are located at Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Noida and Mumbai, said the Head of the Coimbatore MSME Facilitation Centre J Vanangamudi.

The Centre here is now in the process of identifying potential candidates who are keen to start their own venture.

“This is only a beginning. We want to create awareness about the schemes available for people who undergo job-oriented skill development programmes to be on their own. While there are a number of skill development training institutes imparting job-oriented programmes, most of the candidates join some company or other to eke out a living, after completion of the course. If those with a business acumen are given some finance assistance, they can start a small venture and grow it over a period of time. This Facilitation Centre will help imbibe confidence by giving finance to the deserving candidates,” Mr Vanangamudi told Business Line.

Canara Bank, which is the Lead Bank in this district also roped in the District Industries Centre (DIC), whose primary objective is to generate employment by promoting MSMEs.

Highlighting some of the Government schemes such as the New Entrepreneur-cum-Enterprise Development Scheme (NEEDS) and Unemployed Youth Employment Generation Programme (UYEGP), DIC General Manager Asokan told the candidates that the Centre (DIC) would support the beneficiaries of State-sponsored schemes by extending 3 per cent back-end subsidy.

He advised the participants against diversion of funds and prompt repayment of loan dues.

The Director of Avinashilingam Jan Shikshan Sansthan Mr Balasubramaniam said that the institute sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India had till date imparted training to over 2 lakh candidates in various need-based vocational programmes.


Source : The Hindu

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Canara Bank bags award, Allahabad Bank gets second prize in Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Shield Scheme

Rajeev Kishore Dubey, CMD of Canara Bank, received the 1st Prize under the Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Puraskar Yojana from the President of India, Pranab Mukherji, at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan Auditorium in New Delhi, the bank said in a statement.

Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank was awarded the second prize in “region ‘C’” banks for the year 2012-13 under the Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Shield Scheme of Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to a release issued by Allahabad Bank, its Chairman and Managing Director, Rakesh Sethi, received the shield from the President, Pranab Mukherjee, at a function help in the Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 14.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also graced the occasion.

Allahabad Bank is celebrating the month of September as Hindi month, the bank said in a release.

Source : The Hindu

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Canara Bank aims to reach aggregate biz of Rs 8.50 lakh crore

Public sector lender Canara Bank is targetting to reach an aggregate business of Rs 8.50 lakh crore during this fiscal with plans to add 1,250 branches, a top official today said.

"The bank was aiming to reach an aggregate business figure of Rs 8.50 lakh crore with a deposit growth of 16-17 per cent and advances growth of 19-20 per cent by March 2015," bank's Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey told reporters here.

During 2013-14 fiscal, the bank's business had touched Rs 7.22 lakh crore. Last year the GDP growth had dipped, there was slow down in economy and raising capital was a problem.

But the bank registered a 20.7 per cent growth, opened 1,027 branches of which 80 per cent was in rural and semi urban areas, he said.

The public sector lender will be adding 1250 branches this year, including 100 in Kerala, to increase its branch strength from 4,755 to 6,000 and ATMs from 6,312 to 10,000 by March next year, he said.

The bank was planning to raise capital of Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal to meet its capital requirement. "We may raise capital from government or from market or from bonds. As market improves, we will go for the best option subject to government and RBI approval," he said.

The bank has five overseas branches -- London, Leicester, Hong Kong, Manama and Shanghai and had plans to open 20 more branches abroad. Total business of the foreign branches reached Rs 43,0450 crore during the previous fiscal, he said.

It would be opening a branch at Johannesburg in South Africa and has plans to open branches at New York by June this year and 8 other international centres, including Dubai, Qatar, Frankfurt, Sao Paulo, Dar-es-Salaam and Tokyo, by march next.

On recruitments, he said 9,000 persons were recruited in various categories last year and 8,000 would be taken this year. The total staff strength of the bank was 50,000.

Asked about media reports that government wanted commercial banks to offer interest free loans of up to Rs 50,000 to victims of loan sharks, Dubey said "under no scheme loans can be given at zero rate of interest. Loans cannot be given as doles. Interest can be subsidised by the government", he said.


Source: Economic Times

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Canara Bank to revamp units as fee income stagnates

Canara Bank is looking at revamping its subsidiaries to improve fee income and maximise the investments it has made in the units.

The government-owned bank, which has units engaged in businesses such as mutual funds, insurance and housing finance, has appointed consultant KPMG as advisor.

"The mandate to the consultant is to advise... on how the bank can improve its fee income with the help of subsidiaries," said RK Dubey, CMD of Canara Bank. "The consultant will also advise the bank on measures to improve returns on investments made in the subsidiaries."

Non-interest income, which captures fee income such as that earned by selling third-party products and giving guarantees, has remained stagnant for Canara Bank at Rs 851 crore in the December quarter compared with Rs 845 crore a year ago.


Source: Economic Times

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Canara Bank raises Rs 1,500 cr

Canara Bank on Friday said that it has raised Rs 1,500 crore through the issue of Basel-III compliant Tier-II bonds.

This was over and above the Rs 500 crore that the Government has decided to infuse in into the public sector lender before March 2014.

For the proposed capital infusion from the Centre, an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders was held on December 30.


Source: Thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank to expand overseas over next 2 years

Canara Bank is expanding its overseas presence and plans to add around 14 new branches in overseas locations over the next two years.

It also wants to increase the share of overseas business from about six per cent currently to 15-20 per cent over the next two to three years.

New branches

The bank, which currently has five branches and three representative offices overseas, is opening a branch in Johannesburg in the next three months, followed by those in New York, Dubai and Frankfurt by September 2014.

Another ten branches in Sao Paolo, Dar-es-Salaam, Tokyo, Abuja, Jeddah, Qatar, Sydney, Ontario, Wellington and Singapore are awaiting regulatory approvals, Canara Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director R.K. Dubey said.

He added that after they all become operational, the bank’s target is to achieve 15-20 per cent share of the overseas business.

New circles

Speaking on their expansion plans within the country, he said that Canara Bank is adding eight new circles (34 at present) in Jalandhar, Gurgaon, Indore, Varanasi, Raipur, Kochi, Tirupati, and Salem by April 2014, and plans to increase the branch-network from the current 4,500 to 5,500-6,000 in the next two years.

A significant number of these branches will be in rural, semi-urban and un-banked areas, including in the regions of Naxalites or terrorist activity like in J&K, Gadchiroli and some parts of the North-East, he said.

In West Bengal, the panchayats have allotted 35 centres for branches at a rent of Re 1, while the Orissa Government is giving them 500 sq ft of space free of rent for 100 branches.

To cater to the expansion, as well as replace employees who will retire, the bank had recruited 8,000 people this year and will hire another 8,000 people next year.

e-lounge in Pune

Launching its second e-lounge in Pune circle, Dubey said that the bank has chalked out a plan to adopt over 60 villages across the country for integrated development.

“We want to develop a model village in each of our circles and 26 lead districts,” he said, adding that the initiative would include developing infrastructure like roads, solar lights and drinking water schemes in addition to promoting financial inclusion, and training youth for earning a livelihood.

In Pune circle, it has adopted village Ghangaldare, situated 102 km from the city. Dubey today handed over a demand draft of Rs 5 lakh to the village development committee as the bank's initial contribution to the scheme.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank to raise Rs 1,500 cr through bonds

Canara Bank said it plans to raise Rs 1,500 crore from bonds to augment its capital base.

The bank has decided to raise additional capital of Rs 1,500 crore through the issue of Basel-III complaint Tier-II bonds, Canara Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

This capital raising would be over and above Rs 500 crore that the Government has decided to infuse in the bank before March 2014.

To take shareholders approval for issuance of preference shares to the government, the bank will hold an extraordinary general meeting on December 30.

Capital infusion by the Government has been done with the twin objective of adequately meeting the credit requirement of the productive sectors as well as to maintain regulatory capital adequacy ratios in public sector banks (PSBs).

The government’s infusion in PSBs is in addition to their internally generated capital to enable the banks to maintain a comfortable level of Tier-I, or equity, capital.

An amount of Rs 12,517 crore was infused in 13 PSBs during 2012-13. This fiscal’s infusion by the Government is pegged at Rs 14,000 crore.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank rolls out ATM cards for joint account holders

Canara Bank has launched a payment product, whereby each joint accountholder will be issued an ATM-cum-debit card. The new service, launched by R.K. Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director, Canara Bank, is enabled for all accounts operated by two joint accountholders.

While one accountholder is designated as ‘primary’, the other will be ‘secondary’.

A transaction is initiated by the primary cardholder by inserting the card in the ATM and keying in the PIN. The transaction is authorised only after validation by the secondary cardholder, using the card and PIN issued.

The ATM-cum-debit cards can be used only for ATM cash withdrawal. The card is valid for domestic use on Canara Bank ATMs only.

The bank has also launched ‘Kiosk Banking through Akshaya Centres’ in Kerala.

As mandated by the Department of Financial Services (Government of India), every sub-service area of 1,500 households has to be covered by a banking channel.

Canara Bank has tied up with Akshaya State Mission to launch this service in about 92 Akshaya Centres, State-wide. Using this facility, customers can open an account, deposit and withdraw cash at Akshaya Centres itself and need not visit the bank branch.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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E-lounge at Canara Bank

The first Canara Bank Pune Circle’s e-lounge was recently inaugurated by V.S. Krishna Kumar, Executive Director of the Bank, at Deccan Gymkhana. This is among 50 e-lounges across India, and many more will be opened shortly, he said.

Observing that the Bank provides advanced technological facilities for its clientele, Krishna Kumar requested the customers to make best use of the technology products including online opening of SB accounts.

The security guarded e-lounge is provided with Cash Deposit machine, Cash withdrawal machine, Cheque deposit machine, Passbook Printing Machine, Internet Banking and Online Trading facilities which are available to customers 24 X 7.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank to open New York branch

Canara Bank has received licence to open a branch in New York. According to R. K. Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director, Canara Bank, the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve has approved the proposal of the bank to open a branch. The bank, he said, could get the approval of US regulators in a record 20 months from date of filing the application. The bank is taking steps to hasten the process of opening the branch in New York and commence operations, he added.

Source: thehindubusinessline

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M.S. Bhaskar nominated on Canara Bank board

The Central Government has nominated Mocherla Sairam Bhaskar as part-time non-official director on the Canara Bank board.

In a release to exchanges, Canara Bank said Bhaskar’s appointment is for a period of three years from the date of notification of his appointment or until further orders.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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Canara Bank sees further decline in bad loans in second half

Canara Bank expects its non-performing assets (NPAs) to decline in the third and fourth quarters. The bank had recorded an improvement in loan quality in the second quarter of this fiscal.

R.K. Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank, said the sequential improvement in asset quality and decline in NPAs are likely to continue in the second half of the current fiscal.

In the second quarter, most of the state-run banks saw their gross as well as net NPAs rise over the first quarter as a percentage of total loan, except for Canara Bank and Bank of India, which reported a fall in both gross and net NPA ratios.

Canara Bank’s gross NPAs in the second quarter fell 27 basis points sequentially to 2.64 per cent while net NPAs dropped 18 bps to 2.30 per cent.

Monitoring recovery

“I hope that in my bank the trend of declining gross NPA is likely to continue in the third as well as the fourth quarters of this financial year…asset quality should not deteriorate further. We don’t want it to deteriorate further like in some major banks where you might have noticed it is now touching 4 to 5 per cent or even at 7 per cent,” Dubey said.

The bank was now controlling slippages by aggressive credit monitoring of existing accounts and stressing on recovery.

“We have put three general managers for recovery. With credit growth going up, recovery going up and slippages going down, I hope this trend should continue,” he said.

Dubey said the bank’s restructuring pipeline was not going to impact the asset quality in the third as well as the fourth quarters for its stringent corporate debt restructuring (CDR) norms. He said the bank had made “adequate provisioning” for bad loans.

jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

Source: thehindubusinessline

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