IDBI Bank Q4 net up 49.4 pc at Rs 771 cr

New Delhi: Public sector lender IDBI Bank today reported a 49.42 per cent spike in net profit for the quarter to March at Rs 771 crore, boosted by a gain of Rs 183 crore in deferred tax, and lower provisions for bad loans. During the same quarter last fiscal, the city-based lender had reported a post-tax profit of Rs 516 crore. During the reporting quarter, the net interest income (NII) of the youngest state-run bank grew by a modest 9.4 per cent at Rs 1,211 crore, against Rs 1,107 crore a year ago. The jump in profit was aided by a deferred tax payment of Rs 183 crore, while it paid Rs 150 crore in taxes during the quarter. Total income grew to Rs 6,857 crore from Rs 5,701 crore, while the interest income touched Rs 6,080 crore, up from Rs 5,024 crore, and non-interest income rose to Rs 777 crore from Rs 677 crore. During the quarter, the net NPA improved to 1.61 per cent, against 1.96 per cent a year ago, while for the full fiscal it rose to 1.61 percent from 1.06 percent. There was a marginal improvement in gross NPA too, at 2.49 per cent, against 2.94 per cent a year ago, but for the full fiscal it rose to 2.49 percent from 1.76 percent. "Our provisions came down to Rs 424 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 651 crore a year ago, as we could successfully recover some of the bad assets during the quarter," chairman and managing director RM Malla told reporters here this evening.

PNB cuts lending rate by 0.25 pc

New Delhi: Country's second largest public sector bank PNB today announced cut in lending rate by 0.25 per cent, a move that will make housing and corporate loans cheaper. "The bank has decided to decrease the base rate by 25 basis points from 10.75 per cent to 10.50 per cent," Punjab National Bank said in a statement. The base rate is the minimum interest rate below which banks can't lend. With the reduction in rates, likely to be followed by other lenders, housing and corporate loans would become cheaper by at least 0.25 per cent. Besides, PNB has also decided to slash interest rate on term deposits of less than Rs 1 crore by 0.25-0.50 per cent in select buckets. The new rates will be effective from May 1, the bank said. The decision comes barely two days after the RBI reduced the short-term lending (repo) rate by 0.5 per cent to 8 per cent in its monetary policy on Apri 17. IDBI Bank had announced cut its lending and deposit rates yesterday.

ICICI Bank cuts lending rates by 25 bps

Mumbai: Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank today became the first major bank to cut its lending and deposit rates by 0.25 percent following the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 0.50 percent two days ago. Accordingly, the bank's base rate or the minimum lending rate, stands reduced by 25 basis points to 9.75 per cent, while the prime lending rates also saw a similar reduction to 18.50 percent. "With the easing of systemic liquidity, we have already seen some correction in wholesale deposit rates. We expect the cost of funds to gradually come down and this reduction in the lending rates is a proactive move by us to pass on the benefit to our valued customers," Managing Director and Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar said in a statement explaining the reason for the reductions. The revised base rate is applicable from April 23, the bank said. The move comes a day after state-run mid-run bank IDBI Bank announced a 0.25 percent cut in lending rates while a slew of other banks, including HDFC Bank, have also hinted at similar moves since the RBI announcement. The ICICI has also cut rates on loans under the older BPLR (benchmark prime lending rate) regime by 0.25 percent to 18.50 and for consumer loans, apart from cutting its floating reference rate (FRR) by a similar amount to 15.50 per cent which will benefit home loan borrowers.

IndusInd bank’s Q4 net up 30% to Rs 223 cr

Mumbai: Higher growth in core and fee incomes pushed up private sector IndusInd Bank's March quarter profit by 30 per cent to Rs 223.4 crore against Rs 171.76 crore in the same period a year ago. Total revenues rose around 33 per cent to Rs 756.45 crore in the fourth quarter against Rs 569.71 crore reported in the same period last year. "Despite a challenging quarter, there was an overall improvement in our performance in all parameters. While our net profit and income have increased, there have been a drop in the overall NPA (non-performing asset) level," IndusInd Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Romesh Sobti told reporters while announcing the fourth quarter result. During the quarter under review, the bank reported a 20 per cent rise in net interest income (NII) to Rs 464.40 crore against Rs 388.08 crore reported a year earlier. Similarly, total non-interest income grew by 61 per cent to Rs 292.05 crore during the period from 181.63 crore reported a year ago. However, there was a drop in the net interest margin (NIM) to 3.29 per cent in the Jan-March period against 3.50 per cent reported a year earlier. On the NPA front, gross NPA dropped to 0.98 per cent from 1.01 per cent and net NPA declined to 0.27 per cent from 0.28 per cent reported a year earlier. The bank has reported a 39 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 802.61 crore in FY12 from Rs 577.32 crore in FY11. Total income during the last financial year grew by 30 per cent to Rs 2,716.03 crore as against Rs 2,090.15 crore reported in the same period last year. Net NPA of the lender for the full fiscal stood at 0.27 per cent compared to 0.28 per cent a year earlier.

Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank gets RBI licence

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has today issued banking license to the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank. The state government had written to the Centre to extend by two months the March 31 deadline set by the RBI for 11 District Central Co-operative Banks and the State Co-operative Bank to obtain the banking licence. Rakesh Mohan Committee recommendations, accepted by the Union Finance Ministry, make it mandatory for all the cooperative banks to get a licence before the deadline. Across the country, there are 134 banks which do not have licence from RBI. If the banks are unable to get the licence before the deadline, they will have to become a cooperative credit society, or merge with another bank. Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank and 11 district central cooperative banks were functioning without banking licence so far. On May 28 last year, the RBI, on the recommendation of Nabard, had dissolved the board of directors of Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank, for financial irregularities.

Religare gets R2 license for health insurance biz

New Delhi: Healthcare and financial services major Religare Enterprises today said its health insurance company has received R2 license from the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority. "We are pleased to move a step closer to launching our operations, and are in a complete state of preparedness for the same," Religare Health Insurance Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Anuj Gulati said in a statement. Religare Health Insurance is a joint venture between Religare Enterprises, Union Bank of India and Corporation Bank. Religare is present in the life insurance segment and has a partnership with Dutch insurer Aegon. The Delhi-based firm will be the fourth standalone health insurance firm.

BMW introduces training programme for its customers

Gurgaon: BMW India has introduced the BMW Driver Training programme in India for BMW customers and prospects.
Initially, the BMW Driver Training programme will be conducted in Delhi NCR and Chennai.
BMW India dealerships in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chennai will identify BMW owners and prospective buyers who are interested in participating in the BMW Driver Training programme.
Dr Andreas Schaaf, President, BMW Group India said, “BMW Driver Training is a signature training
programme to improve the driving skills, handling, reaction time and awareness of BMW customers. The aim was, and remains, to provide an opportunity to know the capabilities of a BMW better and experience the superior BMW technology. The BMW Driver Training programme is designed to help customers to overcome potential hazards in day-to-day driving.”
Drawing on the extensive experience and in-depth expertise, instructors take the customers through various driving techniques starting from basics such as the correct seating position and steering wheel posture to the appropriate steering technique, avoidance manoeuvres, emergency and target braking, dynamic lane changes and deliberately induced understeering or oversteering on bends.
“BMW Driver Training programme focuses on the challenges posed everyday on the road. It helps the driver to retain composure and remain clear headed, as well as apply the knowledge in critical situations. BMW Driver Training programme provides the ideal foundation for increasing the necessary self-confidence as well as enhancing the pleasure of everyday driving. With small groups and under the guidance of experienced instructors, the drivers get an excellent basis for developing a confident approach to driving.” Schaaf added.
Through the BMW Driver Training programme, drivers are able to get a better feel of how to react calmly in unexpected situations. By practising a range of safety exercises; and dynamic techniques in the BMW Driver Training programme, customers experience both Sheer Driving Pleasure and develop an expert control over the vehicle.

Hyundai Motors gets a new MD for India operations

Chennai: Country’s second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter, Hyundai Motors recently announced a change in its management with the appointment of Bo Shin Seo as the new Managing Director.
Prior to his elevation as MD, Seo was Executive Director Production -- a position that he held for the past two years.
Seo, took over from Han Woo Park who returned to Korea as Chief Financial Officer of Kia Motors.
“I look forward to taking Hyundai Motor India to newer heights and working closely with the extended
Hyundai family,” Seo said.
Speaking about his tenure in India Park said, “I have lived 9 years in India, my long association with HMIL has provided me with an immense amount of learning. I am confident that HMIL will go from strength to strength under Seo’s leadership,”
Seo is an engineer by training, in his distinguished career he has been Hyundai’s Production Head at its state-of-the-art Alabama plant in the USA.

Microsoft’s Cloud Computing to create over 2 million Jobs

New Delhi: According to a study conducted by IDC on behalf of Microsoft cloud computing will generate over 2 million jobs in the country by 2015. The findings predict that cloud will generate nearly 14 million new jobs worldwide in the same time.
More than 50 per cent of these jobs will be generated in the small and medium businesses. Further, more than two million jobs each will be generated in the ‘communications and media’ and manufacturing sectors, followed by banking at over 1.4 million. Pointing to the strong linkage between cloud, innovation and entrepreneurship, the study estimates that revenues from cloud innovation could reach $1.1 trillion per year by 2015. Combined with cloud efficiencies, this will drive significant organizational reinvestment and job growth.
Cloud computing is already changing how IT delivers economic value to countries, cities, industries, and businesses. IDC estimates that in 2011 alone, IT cloud services helped businesses around the world generate more than $600 billion in revenue and 1.5 million new jobs. Further, the spending on public cloud IT services in 2011 stood at $28 billion, while the total spending on IT products and services was $1.7 trillion.
The study also indicates that countries investing in key cloud infrastructure will experience greater job growth. The factors determining the number of jobs that might be created in a particular country include projected level of spending on IT, degree of automation, workforce size amongst others.
“For most organisations, cloud computing is a no-brainer when considering it enables massive return on investment and flexibility,” said John F Gantz, Chief Research Officer and Senior Vice President at IDC. “A common misperception is cloud computing is a job eliminator, but in truth it will be a job creator — a major one. And job growth will occur across continents and throughout organisations of all sizes because emerging markets, small cities and small businesses have the same access to cloud benefits as large enterprises or developed nations.”
Floris van Heist, GM, Business & Marketing, Microsoft Corp said, “Cloud computing poses a compelling opportunity for businesses and governments around the world. India is uniquely poised to leverage this opportunity with factors like an unparalleled ecosystem of developers, ISVs and SIs, no legacy IT systems and a high growth rate of economy contributing towards growth of cloud computing. Microsoft is playing a key role in the cloud space to help businesses realize their full potential and move Governments closer to their vision.”

Citibank Launches ‘Citibanking’

Mumbai: Citibank India recently announced the launch of ‘Citibanking’, a new retail banking proposition for its consumers. Citibanking will offer unprecedented global access, increased convenience, connectivity and personalisation for everyday banking needs.
It is designed for customers who are upwardly mobile and maintain a relationship value of a minimum Rs. 200,000 with the Bank.
Basis McKinsey India estimates, the emerging affluent segment in India constitutes of 16 million households with 37 per cent in the top 14 cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nagpur, Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Kochi. This segment primarily consists of salaried professionals and also includes 35-40 per cent of self employed individuals, with an annual income ranging from Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 1,500,000. The segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent, while the revenue pool currently at Rs. 25,000 crore ($5 billion), is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent.
On the occasion of the launch of Citibanking, Anand Selva, Country Business Manager, Global Consumer Group, Citi India said, “We are delighted to launch a market first value proposition for emerging affluent consumers in India. The Citibanking offering, created through extensive research, demonstrates our commitment to address the increasingly changing needs of this segment. With this launch, we have personalized and customised offerings for our customers across the wealth continuum - starting with salaried accounts (Suvidha); the newly defined emerging affluent (Citibanking), the affluent (Citigold), the high net worth individuals (Citigold Select) and the ultra high net worth individuals (Citi Private Bank)”
“We are focused on executing our segment-led strategy to grow our retail banking franchise in India in the areas of cards, payment solutions, wealth management, mortgages and unsecured loans. We aim to set new benchmarks with strong value propositions with the launch of innovative products & services, to meet the aspirations of our customers”, concluded Anand.
Announcing the launch of Citibanking, Sandeep Bhalla, Head-Retail Banking, Citi India said; “We conducted an in-depth research to identify the specific banking needs of the emerging affluent, a segment that has significantly grown over the last decade. Consumers in this segment embrace technology in every aspect of their lives and are increasingly leading a global lifestyle. Waiting is no longer an option. They want a bank that values their time, offers world-class digital banking services and supports their global banking and investing needs. Citibanking seeks to deliver all of these and make banking convenient. It’s time to Rethink Banking.”
Citibanking was thoughtfully developed with customer feedback from an extensive survey of 8,000 emerging affluent individuals across seven Asia Pacific markets (India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia and Korea).