Bank of Baroda to hire 4,000 officers, clerks

Bank of Baroda will be hiring about 4,000 officers and clerks soon, according to its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr M. D. Mallya.

“This will cater to our major branch expansion plan during the next financial year and replacement of retired staff,” Mr Mallya told Business Line here.

The bank has plans to open over 500 branches in the next one year which would need manpower, he added.

The recruitment will be conducted on the basis on a common written exam being conducted by the Institute of Banking Personal Selection as part of an agreement it entered into with 19 banks.

On the credit off-take, Mr Mallya said the demand for loans is expected to go up once the interest rates begin to come down.

“As of now there is expectation that interest rates will come down. Further, higher liquidity with the banks is likely to make corporate loans cheaper,” he added.

FOCUS ON AFRICA

The bank, which has 87 branches/offices, is planning to step up its focus on the African region. “We see great business potential in countries such as Kenya,” he said. Bank of Baroda gets 25 per cent of its over Rs 6 lakh crore business from overseas. The number of overseas branches is likely to be ramped up to 100 in the next two quarters, he added.

ksridhu@thehindu.co.in

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R. R. Nair reinstated as ED of LIC

Mr R. R. Nair, former Director and Chief Executive of LIC Housing Finance, has been reinstated in the Life Insurance Corporation of India as an Executive Director. In November 2010, the Central Bureau of Investigation had proceeded against Mr Nair and others in an alleged case of bribery for loans. Mr Nair was removed from the post after his arrest by the CBI. In his place, Mr V. K. Sharma was appointed as the head of LICHF.

The CBI had also moved against Secretary (Investments) LIC, Director (Chartered Accountant), Central Bank of India; General Manager, Bank of India; Deputy General Manager, Punjab National Bank; the Chairman and Managing Director and two other officers of a Mumbai-based private financial services company in the same case.

According to sources, LIC may have reinstated him as charges against him may not have been established as yet. Mr Nair has taken charge of the inspection department at LIC with effect from January 23.

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Centre approves Rs 7,900-cr capital infusion in SBI

The Centre has approved capital infusion of Rs 7,900 crore (including premium) into State Bank of India by way of preferential allotment of shares.

This was conveyed to SBI through a Finance Ministry letter dated January 30, the country's largest commercial bank informed the Mumbai stock exchange on Monday.

With this, the Centre's stake in SBI would go up to 65 per cent. Currently, the Centre has 59.4 per cent stake in the bank . The capital infusion would also help raise the Tier-I capital of the bank to 8 per cent.

The SBI Chairman, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, had earlier this month said that the Government was looking to make a capital infusion of Rs 6,000-8,000 crore by end-March.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

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Indian Bank Q3 net up 7%

Indian Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 526 crore for the quarter ended December 2011, a growth of 7 per cent over the Rs 491 crore recorded in the corresponding year-ago quarter. For the nine-month period, net profit stands at Rs 1,402 crore (Rs 1,275 crore).

Net interest income rose by 12.8 per cent to Rs 1,170 crore during the quarter under consideration from Rs 1,038 crore.

The bank's gross NPA (non-performing assets) was at Rs 1,190 crore (1.35 per cent) and net NPA was Rs 695 crore (0.8 per cent). The bank has recovered a total of Rs 366 crore during the nine-month period.

Recovery camps

“In the last three quarters we conducted over 2,600 recovery camps and recovered Rs 64.50 crore,” said Mr T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

The bank's CASA (current account and savings account) deposits improved to Rs 35,536 crore in December 2011, forming 31.3 per cent of total deposits.

Capital adequacy ratio

As per Basel II, the capital-adequacy ratio stood at 11.84 per cent as at the end of the nine-month period.

If the plough back of current year profit is taken for computation, the capital adequacy ratio will go up to 13.48 per cent, said Mr Bhasin.

The bank has secured permission to dilute 10 per cent Government holding and issue 6.14 crore shares.

As of today, the Government's holding is 80 per cent. Besides, the bank is awaiting Government and RBI permission for conversion of Rs 400 crore perpetual non-convertible preference shares into equity (at the current market rate).

rravikumar@thehindu.co.in

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Fee-based income, core biz lift Allahabad Bank net 35% in Q3

Allahabad Bank is hopeful of receiving Rs 1,000 crore capital infusion from the Central Government under the recapitalisation scheme by the end of this fiscal. The fund infusion would be done primarily through the equity route, said Mr D. Sarkar, Executive Director, Allahabad Bank.

The bank's capital-adequacy ratio stood at 12.75 per cent as on December 31, 2011.

“We had asked for Rs 1,000 crore from the Government and we are hopeful of getting the funds within the next one week. The infusion will be through direct equity,” Mr Sarkar said. The bank's Tier I capital was at 8.91 per cent as on December 2011.

The bank also has headroom to raise Rs 4,700 crore; however, it may not go for further capital infusion this fiscal.

Meanwhile, riding on the back of higher fee-based income and growth in core operations, bank posted 35 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 560 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, compared with the same period last year.

‘Other income' rose 35 per cent to Rs 348 crore. Shares of Allahabad Bank dipped by 0.76 per cent to close at Rs 155.80 on the BSE on Monday.

“Moving forward, our thrust will be on growing our business, bottom-line and garnering fee-based income.

“With these strategies we hope to sustain our profitability,” said Mr J. P. Dua, the bank's Chairman and Managing Director.

The net interest margin improved to 3.73 per cent (3.44 per cent). The bank is hopeful of maintaining NIM at over 3.5 per cent by the end of this fiscal.

Interest rate cut?

Replying to a query on the possibility of an interest rate cut, Mr Dua said, “I do not think that the time for that (cut in interest rate) has come yet.”

The percentage of net non-performing assets to advances increased to 0.79 per cent (0.59 per cent). Provisions increased by 26 per cent to Rs 470 crore.

shobha@thehindu.co.in

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