Opening new banks will not be a 'cakewalk':

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/opening-new-banks-will-not-be-a-cakewalk-rbis-deputy-governor-kc-chakrabarty/articleshow/19700882.cms

 RBI Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty today said opening of new banks will not be easier this time around unlike in 1993-94 period, when a number of new lenders came up.

"This time opening of (new) banks is not so easy because we have got PSL (priority sector lending) norm which is mandatory and 25 per cent of the branches have to be opened in unbanked sectors," he said at an event here late evening.

"It will not be a cakewalk as it happened in 1993-94," he added.

The last time new banks were allowed was in 2002-03 when two licences were issued. In the first wave of privatisation of the banking sector, 10 players were allowed to start operations in the mid-1990s and these included ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and IDBI Bank, among others.

Justifying the government's decision to grant new licences, the Deputy Governor emphasised on the need for more banks in the country to reach out to the unbanked population.

"We have less number of banks. Competition is less. That's why we are looking for issuing new licenses."

Chakrabarty pointed out that purpose of giving new banking licences is to further the cause of financial inclusion and aspirants with sound model will be given priority.

"That (financial inclusion) is what the objective is. But the issue is that these new licenses, if you see the guidelines exclusively says that it is for those people who want to further the objective of financial inclusion. Those (aspirants) who have a model, will be given the priority."

Referring to number of banking licences that will be issued, he declined to give any number.

Asked about the need of tailor-made banks which cater to specific requirements, the Deputy Governor said the regulator is looking at fit-all-size model as of now.

RBI released its final guidelines for new banking licensing in February this year, asking aspirants to submit applications by July 1, 2013.

Falling oil and gold doesn't mean we are out of the woods

http://www.firstpost.com/economy/falling-oil-and-gold-doesnt-mean-we-are-out-of-the-woods-705044.html

It is too early to celebrate the decline in oil and gold prices. Reason: while this will benefit the current account deficit (CAD) and lower the prospects for further fuel price inflation, the critical question is what happens to the rupee. If the rupee stays weak, or it declines, then all bets are off.

At the time of writing, Brent crude was at $100 a barrel, the rupee just under Rs 54, and gold was quoting below Rs 24,000 per 10 gm. All this is good news, but they do not add to a positive story overall. Here’s why.

A high CAD – the gap between what the country spends abroad and what it earns from exports and remittances – is one reason why the rupee has been under pressure since 2011. When the rupee falls, imported oil gets pricier even if the global price of crude falls – as it is doing now. Hence what matters to us is not just the price of oil or gold, but the value of the rupee which determines local prices of these commodities.

The rupee, in turn, depends on the level of CAD and the state of capital inflows. A high CAD pressures the rupee down. CAD itself depends on two things – the level of imports and exports, and net inward remittances. Falling imports are a signal that CAD could improve, but if exports fall in tandem, relatively we will remain in the same place.

Capital inflows, on the other hand, will depend on several factors – from the attractiveness of competing investment destinations outside India to domestic interest rates (the higher the rates, the more the inflows), political uncertainties (the greater the uncertainty, the more the reluctance of foreigners to invest in India), and the related policy environment, among other things. Portfolio flows depend on the short-term prospects of the stock and debt markets, and expectations on the rupee, and long-term foreign investment flows (FDI) depend on policies.

Right now, political uncertainties are rising, and interest rates are set to fall as growth stumbles. The US stock markets are already at highs, and if they start falling, the sentiment could affect Indian stocks, too, and lead to a selloff. Year-to-date, India has already attracted over Rs 63,000 crore in foreign portfolio flows into equity and debt, and further inflows depend on prospects elsewhere, and not just here.

In short, since all variables impact all other variables, it is not possible to make a linear deduction that since oil and gold prices are falling, the CAD will improve and hence both the rupee and inflation will stabilise.

As for gold, the less said the better when it comes to India. Will Indians buy less gold if it is cheaper, or more? A lot will depend on whether we think gold will fall further, in which case we will wait and watch. But if we think it is cheap enough, we will buy more. If this happens, it would mean that the full extent of the CAD gain from falling gold imports will be lesser than expected.

SBI raises the red flag on falling gold prices

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/1823362/report-sbi-raises-the-red-flag-on-falling-gold-prices

Pratip Chaudhuri, chairman of the State Bank of India, says 20% lower gold prices won’t impact the lender yet.

“But any further fall would become an issue.”

As a precautionary measure, the bank is planning to reduce the quantum of loan given against gold, or reduce the so-called loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, which stands at 70% currently.

SBI has a gold loan portfolio of Rs 35,000 crore, which makes up for a little more than 3% of its gross advances. Most of this is agricultural loans supplemented by gold, Chaudhuri said.

LTV ratios have climbed high in the recent past, mainly due to intense competition and regulatory loopholes.

Gold prices have fallen more than 10% to a two-year low in just the last four trading sessions to Rs 25,900 on Tuesday. It is expected to fall further.

This sudden and sharp decline has raised issues over the value of gold collateral with banks and other gold loan companies.

“Falling gold prices, if sustained, can significantly impair the asset quality of the gold loan portfolios of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and banks,” said Prakash Agarwal, associate director at India Ratings.

A sizeable proportion of gold loans outstanding may already be close to the realisable value of the collateral, according to India Ratings’ assessment.

An additional 10% correction in gold prices in the near future could result in a majority of outstanding loan amounts being higher than the realisable value of collaterals, increasing possibility of losses, it added.

South-based private banks such as Federal Bank are likely to be impacted more, mainly because of higher proportion of gold loans.

SBI mulls merging one of its associate banks this year

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/sbi-mulls-merging-one-of-its-associate-banks-this-year/articleshow/19582055.cms

State Bank of India will revive the plan to merge its associate banks with itself after putting it on the back-burner for more than three years. For the first time after taking charge in April 2011, SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said that the bank is now open to merging its associate banks with itself. The move will further enhance its already enormous balance sheet.

"Now that the capital conditions are favourable for merger, we will think about it," Chaudhuri told reporters.

However, he did not indicate any timeline. "For us, all five fingers are the same," he said when asked which of the remaining five associates would be considered first for merger.

OP Bhatt, former chairman of SBI, had ambitious plans to merge all the seven associate banks with itself to create a bank which, in India, would resemble behemoths such as ICBC, and National Agricultural Bank of China. During Bhatt's tenure two associate banks, State Bank of Saurashtra and State Bank of Indore, were merged with SBI. After taking charge, Chaudhuri had put merger of associate banks on hold on the grounds that such mergers consume enormous amount of capital.

SBI's tier I capital (equity and reserves) had fallen to 7.9%—lower than its internal target of 8%—after it nearly slipped into losses in the March 2011 quarter.

In an interview with ET in 2011, referring to the bank's decision to press the pause button on merger of associate banks, Chaudhuri had said, "It is very much on the table, but associate bank mergers are not going to happen in a hurry. It is not because we are not convinced that merger is the right thing, but it is because it requires capital and operational efficiency. The cost of a single merger of an associate bank with the parent would be Rs 1,500 crore in terms of payout on staff benefits."

SBI received Rs 11,900 crore in capital from government in two years and it ploughed back Rs 11,700 crore profit last year, which improved its capital position.

ICICI Bank to sell 11-kg pledged gold to recover loans

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/icici-bank-to-sell-11-kg-pledged-gold-to-recover-loans/articleshow/19539053.cms

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank will auction this month gold jewellery weighing over 11 kg, pledged by more than 150 borrowers, who have defaulted on their payments. 

The auction would be conducted by the bank branches in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand from April 18-22 for gold jewellery deposited by about over 150 customers as collateral for their loans, the bank said in a public notice last week. 

While neither the exact value of the gold ornaments being auctioned nor the outstanding loans could be ascertained, an equivalent amount of gold would be worth over Rs 3 crore at current prices. 

At present, gold prices have hit one-year low at Rs 28,350 per 10 grams. 

It is a usual practice to take gold loans by pledging jewellery with banks. But such ornaments can be auctioned by banks after giving sufficient notice to the borrower in case of payment defaults. 

The notice further said: "In the event any surplus amount is realised from this auction, the same will be refunded to the borrower concerned, and if there is any deficit post the auction, the balance amount shall be recovered from the borrower through appropriate legal proceedings." 

The bank said the auction would take place at ICICI Bank branches in areas, including Allahabad, Meerut, Kanpur, Agra, Rudrapur, Varanasi, Dehradun, Bhagalpur and Patna. 

ICICI Bank would auction gold jewellery weighing 8.5 kg on April 18, nearly 2kg on April 20 and around 940 gms on April 22. 

Interested parties are required to submit a refundable security deposit of Rs 20,000 at ICICI Bank for participating in the auction process, the notice said. 

In case the winning bidder refuses to accept the jewellery after the auction, then the security money would be forfeited, it added. 

Last month, the bank had auctioned gold jewellery weighing nearly 25 kg worth over Rs 7 crore.

RBI Says JP Morgan Branch Violated Rules

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324695104578418812987425272.html

India's central bank Friday imposed a penalty of 500,000 rupees ($9170) on the local branch of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., saying that it violated rules on risk management and inter-bank dealings and compliance.

The rule violations took place during the financial year ended on March 31, 2012, the Reserve Bank of India said in a notice posted on its website.

The RBI said it had notified J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A., which operates the bank branch, about the violations. Its reply to the notice "conclusively established" the violations, the central bank said.

The RBI didn't provide specific details.

A J.P. Morgan spokeswoman in Mumbai said it had "noted the central bank's concerns and taken remedial action." She didn't elaborate further.

J.P. Morgan has only one bank branch in India.

Finance Minister asks banks to gear up for all India LPG cash subsidy rollout

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/commodities/article-finance-minister-asks-banks-to-gear-up-for-all-india-lpg-cash-subsidy-rollout-320872

Finance Minister P Chidambaram asked banks on Friday to gear up for the rollout of direct cash subsidy scheme to cooking gas (LPG) consumers throughout the country.

"I have asked them (bankers) to get ready for the rollout of LPG for the whole country," Mr Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting with senior PSU bankers in Delhi.

As a pilot project, the government has decided to give cash subsidy to LPG consumers under its ambitious direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme soon, and will cover 20 districts by May 15.

LPG consumers will get about Rs. 4,000 per annum in cash from the government, and they will have to then buy LPG at market price of Rs.901.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Currently, each consumer is entitled to 9 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised price of Rs. 410.50. On each of these cylinder the government bears a subsidy Rs. 435.

There are about 14 crore LPG consumers in the country.

Regarding the second phase of DBT scheme to be launched from July in 78 districts, the Finance Minister said, "They (bankers) have all said that they will be ready in the 78 districts."

The Planning Commission would be holding meetings with the 78 district collectors.

"We have said the lead bank managers of 78 districts will also attend the meeting," he said.

The government has already capped the number of subsidised cylinders at six per household per year and beyond that a consumer has to pay the market price. However, some of the state governments are providing more subsidised cylinders and bearing the burden themselves.

The government expects that the DBT will eliminate all ghost LPG connections and diversion of cylinders.

In the first phase of DBT that started in January, 43 districts are being covered.

Under the DBT scheme, subsidies and other benefits are transfered directly into the Aadhaar linked bank account of beneficiary.

Ratios and Rates as on 11th April 2013

Bank Rate                              :  8.50 %

Repo Rate                              : 7.50 %

Reverse Repo Rate                : 6.50 %

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)     : 4.00% 

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): 23.00% 

KFA lenders to initiate process to liquidate Mallya's assets next week

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/kfa-lenders-to-initiate-process-to-liquidate-mallya-s-assets-next-week-113041000453_1.html

The tussle over recovery of loans given to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) between a 17-member consortium of banks and promoter Vijay Mallya seems to have entered the last lap. The lenders are set to start from next week the process to liquidate the physical assets pledged with them.

These assets, given to banks as collateral, include Mallya’s villa in Goa, Kingfisher’s office at Mumbai’s Andheri area, a luxury yacht, buses used by KFA to ferry travellers at airports and other ground-handling equipment.

Apart from physical assets, bankers also hold the pledged shares of United Spirits, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers and KFA, besides corporate guarantees of United Breweries Holdings. State Bank of India (SBI), on behalf of the consortium, has already started selling United Spirits shares. It had said the total value of the collateral was estimated at Rs 6,500 crore, against the total dues of Rs 7,000 crore to all banks, including the unapplied interest of Rs 850 crore. The total value of collateral does not include the Kingfisher Airlines brand, also pledged with banks.

SBI will send the demand notice to KFA under Section 13(2) of the Sarfaesi Act; this means the company will have the chance to repay the loan within 60 days. If it fails to repay the loans, the banks would invoke Section 13(4) of the Act. After 90 days from the date the demand notice is sent, banks could sell the assets if the borrower is still not able to repay loans.

NRI deposits rise 37% on high domestic interest rates

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/nri-deposits-rise-37-on-high-domestic-interest-rates/article4603194.ece

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) are keeping faith with the returns their banks back home are giving them.

In the first eleven months of FY13, NRI deposits in the banking system rose 37 per cent (by $13.379 billion against $9.733 billion in the year-ago period).

The NRI deposit accretion was solely in the non-resident (external) rupee account or NRE account. In the reporting period, NRE deposits soared by a whopping 161 per cent at $15.271 billion ($5.854 billion in the year-ago period).

NRIs may be pouring money into the NRE deposits because they fetch handsome returns (for example, SBI is offering 8.75 per cent interest on NRE deposits of 1-10 years).

Another reason why NRIs may be parking money in NRE deposits is that they may be taking a view that the rupee will appreciate down the line, thereby enabling them to make gains at the time when the deposit matures, said a senior public sector bank official.

For example, if NRIs place NRE deposits now then the dollars they remit will fetch them Rs 54.50 a dollar. However, if the rupee appreciates to (say) 50 to the dollar at the time of maturity of the deposit (say two years down the line) then the depositor makes a gain of Rs 4.50 a dollar. Besides, the possible exchange rate gain, he earns interest on the deposit.

The other two components of NRI deposits — Foreign Currency (Non-Resident) or FCNR Account and Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Rupee Account — have seen outflows.

NRO deposits saw an outflow of $1.732 billion (against an accretion of $3.926 billion). FCNR deposits declined $160 million (against a decline of $48 million).

Retired bankers in demand as India Inc looks for licence

http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/retired-bankers-in-demand-as-india-inc-looks-for-licence-113040800467_1.html

Life after retirement for many former bankers will continue to be quite busy, courtesy the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) -initiated process for new banking licences after a decade. Banking aspirants are busy enlisting the services of former bankers who can share their vast experience and domain knowledge.

So, if former Corporation Bank Chairman and Managing Director V K Chopra has been roped in by the India Infoline group, former Bank of Baroda chairman M D Mallya’s experience would come in handy for the Tata Group if it is lucky enough to get the coveted licence.

Similarly, A C Mahajan, former chairman of Canara Bank, has been recruited by Religare as an independent director. Religare is a strong aspirant for the banking business. And, the advice of former SBI Chairman A K Purwar, who is already heading Piramal Capital, could prove useful for the Piramal group’s banking ambitions.

It’s not only commercial bankers who are sought. Former central bankers are also in high demand — former central banker A K Khound, who retired from RBI as chief general manager of the banking operations and development department, which drafted the licensing norms, will share his knowledge with Aditya Birla Financial Services.

Even consultants advising corporate houses on banking licences are  aggressive in getting former bankers into their folds. KPMG, for example, has roped in former RBI chief general manager Vinay Baijal as senior advisor.

Shinjini Kumar, director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, believes banking is different from other sectors, as credibility with the regulator is important, apart from attributes such as experience and relationships.

“Given the strict ‘fit and proper’ expectations, identifying the right person is also about strategic positioning. The wider context is that, in India, banks not only need to look at regulatory expertise as a matter of zero-tolerance compliance (which is common to many jurisdictions), but also as a necessary prerequisite for making the right strategic choices in an environment of constraining regulations and changing macroeconomic scenario,” Kumar said. She was with RBI until a few years back.

Some experts, however, say this excitement to rope in as many former bankers as possible might be short-lived; it might ebb with the growing realisation that the central bank is likely to allow only a few new entities. New licences are expected to come by March-April next year.

Finance Ministry relaxes govt banks' staff promotion norms

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/finance-ministry-relaxes-govt-banks-staff-promotion-norms-113040700066_1.html

With public sector banks staring at huge staff retirement over the next few years, the government has decided to relax the norms for promotions for the current financial year. The finance ministry has allowed the banks to deviate from the prescribed promotion norms, with the approval of their board, so that more employees can become eligible for promotions.

However, banks will still need prior approval of the government for a change in guidelines on five critical aspects such as minimum experience requirement for promotion to next scale, marks in annual appraisal, rural/semi-urban experience, length of service in specialised cadre, and zone of consideration

Notably, even in these, some degree of freedom would be given to banks. For instance, board of banks can provide further relaxation of three months in minimum experience requirement. This relaxation has been provided recognising that if a person was last promoted in June, he would not be eligible for promotion at the beginning of the next financial year for not having completed a year.

“On some operational issues regarding promotions, we have given them more freedom. But on core issues, there will be uniformity in guidelines across the banks. On core elements of the promotion policy, 80-85 per cent of the norms stipulated last year would continue,” said a finance ministry official.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has termed the present decade as retirement decade. In the next 10 years, government-run banks have to hire in lakhs to fill up retirements and natural attrition, to keep their branches and other operations running. Also, with RBI set to allow new banks in the country, the public sector banks is likely to be a favourite hunting ground for talent for private sector players.

The ministry has decided to give bank boards some flexibility to decide whether the stipulated tenure of rural/semi-urban experience is required to be continuous or in parts. While the condition for rural posting will remain unchanged, banks can relax condition in cases where, for instance, a person was transferred from the rural office barely months before completing his tenure, but had two stints in the area, thereby meeting the tenure requirement.

The bank board can relax the requirement of marks in the annual performance appraisal ratings to an average of 75 per cent marks with minimum 60 per cent in the preceding five years. They can also relax the zone of consideration to include all officers promoted on the same date or batch.

“The moment you have too many conditions, that would mean exclusion. The new guidelines will not exclude people and more employees can be considered for promotions,” said the official. In the circular issued to the banks on April 4, the ministry has said that the reasons for deviations from the guidelines would have to be properly recorded in the minutes of board meetings.

The government, through its circulars in 1986 and 1987, had laid down guidelines for promotion in public sector banks. However, banks gradually started deviating from these norms in the pretext of fine-tuning them. This forced the government to issue revised guidelines in December 2011. Since then, several relaxations have been made in the norms to meet HR requirements of banks.

SBT will continue to lead and syndicate finance for major Kerala projects: MD

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/sbt-will-continue-to-lead-and-syndicate-finance-for-major-kerala-projects-md/article4595110.ece

State Bank of Travancore (SBT) hopes to become the bank which will lead and syndicate, and make certain funds for major infrastructure projects in Kerala, says P. Nanda Kumaran, Managing Director.

“May be our visibility has not been good. But that’s partly because of customer confidentiality clause applicable from case to case,” he toldBusiness Line here.

BIG PROJECTS

“So at times we won’t able to announce probably what we are doing at a given time,” he said while referring to the bank’s willingness to stay invested in the State.

“But let me tell you, with every project is happening in Kerala, we’ve been there as one of the major contributors,” he added.

Vizhinjam international seaport and transhipment terminal project is one. The bank has also a commitment to the Kannur airport and the Kochi Metro. In fact, it was the first bank to commit money for the latter.

SmartCity Kochi is another. The bank is also involved in the expansion of the Cochin International Airport.

RISK APPETITE

“We’ll get involved in any good project that is coming up in this manner,” Nanda Kumaran said.

As a banker, he would look to meeting best opportunities where the risk allows him to derive maximum benefit.

While doing so, the bank would like to get decoupled from the bad effects of a connected globe but would as well like to gain from the good.

“When we say we’re growing as among the top 10 economies of the world, it’s about how you would globalise more and how you’re going to derive more and more synergy, benefits, capabilities and growth and wealth from that,” he said.

SIGNAL ROLE

Explaining the signal role that banks play in the economy, he said banks are the single most effective tool of transmission of economic policies and decisions.

“We’re the transmission point, we’re the disintermediation point, we’re the intermediation point and we’re also the funding and recovery point.

So whatever be the economic decisions and policy-making, they are felt more acutely in banking than anywhere else.”

Banks need to globalise to derive comparative advantage as well as competitive advantage. They must imbibe best practices in manufacturing, services, management, corporate governance, accounts etc.

CAPITAL ADEQUACY

“As a country, we’re moving faster towards Basel 3 prescriptions on regulation, supervision and risk management. There’s already a lot of preparedness happening in the banking system.”

It’s a positive sign that India is becoming a more mature place to do business than we would have given credit to ourselves.

“I look at it with a sense of maturity with what’s happening on this front. It helps us to plan better; it also gives us confidence and self-belief, which is very important,” Nanda Kumaran said.

Dawood funds: Bank of Baroda’s Bahamas branch denies involvement

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/dawood-funds-bank-of-barodas-bahamas-branch-denies-involvement/articleshow/19420244.cms

Bank of Baroda has clarified that the Dubai Exchange account it maintains is KYC (know-your-client) compliant, in response to a report on a TV channel that its branch in the offshore banking haven of Nassau was used for laundering cash transactions of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. 

"It is clarified that Bank of Baroda Nassau has been maintaining among others, the account of Dubai Exchange for last several years," said a statement signed by bank's chairman and managing director S S Mundra. "It is a KYC-compliant account where transactions take place in normal course of business to established banking channels, according to the bank." 

"All AML (anti-money laundering) guidelines are followed. Hence we deny any involvement of Bank of Baroda in alleged transfer of funds as reported in the Media," said the release. 

According to the report telecast by the news channel, cash from Afghanistan-Pakistan based terror groups, being handled by Dawood, has been traced to the Bahamas and is lying at the Nassau branch of Bank of Baroda. The news channel has sourced the information to highly placed government sources. 

It said that Bank of Baroda's Nassau branch saw successive wire transfers of several hundred thousand dollars from at least three Dubai-based currency exchanges — the al-Zarouni Exchange, the Dubai Exchange and the al-Dirham Exchange — suspected to be proceeds from organised crime. 

"We further clarify that Bank of Baroda Nassau Operations are conducted strictly within the regulatory framework of host/home country and are subject to usual systemic controls," it said. Nassau, located in the central American island of Bahamas, is well known as a tax haven.

SBI to discontinue free accident cover for loan customers

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/sbi-to-discontinue-free-accident-cover-for-loan-customers/article4590965.ece

The country’s largest bank SBI will discontinue a free accident insurance cover given to its home and car loan customers from July this year.

In a notification to its customers, the State Bank of India said the complimentary group personal accident insurance cover (death only) for home and car loan customers will be discontinued on the expiry of current Master Policy on July 1, 2013.

“Hence, in case of accidental death of any Home/Car loan borrower on or before July 1, 2013, claims may be lodged for the outstanding amount in the loan account subject to the terms and conditions mentioned in Master Policy,” SBI said.

The bank, however, did not mention the reasons for scrapping the complimentary cover.

SBI said that its home and car loan borrowers, who do not have any insurance cover for their loan liabilities, may opt for the policies being offered by SBI’s insurance venture.

Currently, SBI General Insurance Company Ltd is offering an accident insurance cover of Rs 4 lakh for SBI’s savings bank account holders for an annual premium of Rs 100.

Earlier this year, SBI had said it provided personal accident cover to over 7 million of its account holders across the country in association with SBI General Insurance.

SBI General Insurance Company is a joint venture between the State Bank of India and Australia’s leading general insurance provider Insurance Australia Group.

SIB expects to cross over Rs 1 lakh cr business this fiscal

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/sib-expects-to-cross-over-rs-1-lakh-cr-business-this-fiscal/article4587995.ece

Private sector lender South Indian Bank Limited would be in a position to cross over Rs 1 lakh crore business in the current fiscal, said a top bank official.

The Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dr V A Joseph told PTI that total business for fiscal 2013 had crossed over Rs 76,000 crore as against the target of Rs 75,000 crore.

SIB expects to increase its branches up to 800 and 1000 ATMs this fiscal with a total business of Rs 1 lakh crore, he added.

Joseph said SIB had made good strides in performance in the past eight years despite all odds and the global economic downturn.

SIB was forced to skip the dividend for fiscal 2004-2005.

Net profit went up from Rs 50 crore in 2006 to Rs 402.66 crore in 2012 while payment of dividend increased from 18 per cent in 2006 to 60 per cent in 2012.

To a query on hike in dividend for fiscal 2013, he said under no circumstance would it be less than 60 per cent as the performance audit was not yet over.

He said net profits for fiscal 2013 was likely to be over Rs 500 crore, a record profit in the 85-year old history of SIB. The target for the fiscal was to increase the number of branches to 750 and 750 ATMs and a business turnover of Rs 75000 crore.

Joseph said that in the past eight years SIB had purchased property worth several crores of rupees in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi.