The Hindu Business Line : Friday, May 01, 2009

MONEY & BANKING

CREDIT CARDS & DEBIT CARDS: Credit card losses higher in India than in US
Mumbai, April 30Credit losses on credit cards in India are relatively high at Rs 3,420 per active card per year vis-À-vis Rs 3,070 in the US and Rs 1,220 in Australia, according to a study commissioned by MasterCard’s India ...

CREDIT MARKET: Lower basmati prices posing risk to lending banks
Rs 2,000-cr outstanding against warehouse receipts exposure. New Delhi, April 30 Abnormal price movements have rendered financing of farm produce against warehouse receipts (WR) a risky proposition. The best example of this is basmati rice, in ...

OVERSEAS BORROWINGS: Sharp drop in ECBs in 2008-09
Indian cos raise $18 b from overseas markets. Chennai, April 30 External commercial borrowings (ECBs) by Indian companies fell sharply in 2008-09 amidst global economic turmoil and reduced appetite for funds. ECBs dropped 42 per cent in 2008-09 ...

LIFE INSURANCE: Slowdown hits life insurance cos’ new premium income
Chennai, April 30 For the first time, the life insurance industry’s new premium income from regular policies (non-single premiums) reported a negative growth since the industry was privatised in 2000. Pan industry non-single ...

NBFCS: NBFCs may repossess assets in case of default: RBI
Chennai, April 30 The Reserve Bank of India has granted the Non Banking Finance Companies their long-standing wish that they be allowed to repossess the assets they financed, in case the borrowers defaulted on repayment of ...

INTEREST RATES: IDBI Bank cuts deposit rates
IDBI Bank has decided to cut interest rates on fixed deposits in seven maturity buckets by 25 basis points even as it hiked the interest rate on the long-term deposit (over 5 years to 10 years duration) by 50 basis points. The revised fixed ...

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: Will BNP Paribas takeover of Fortis impact here?
Chennai, April 30 BNP Paribas’ takeover of Fortis Bank will have its echo in India, say sources in ...

INTERVIEW: ‘Claims ratio of motor insurance pool estimated at 124% of earned premium’
Pool completes first full year of accounting during March-Feb 2008-09. Kolkata, April 30 Established under the General Insurance Corporation in 2007, the third-party motor insurance pool completed its first full year of accounting during ...

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: IRFC kicks off 2009-10 funds mobilisation; raises Rs 1,811 cr thru bonds
Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) has kicked off its fund mobilisation programme for the 2009-10 fiscal with bond issues of Rs 1,811 crore. The bonds have been raised for tenors of five years (Rs 350 crore), ten years (Rs 900 crore) ...

FINANCIAL MARKETS: US recovery still key
At its Wednesday meeting, it left interest rates unchanged in the 0-0.25 per cent range. It was an obvious decision. The time is far from ripe to even contemplate hardening ...

GENERAL INSURANCE: General insurance industry clocks lower growth at 9%
Mumbai, April 30 The general insurance sector has grown at a lower pace of 9 per cent in FY2009 as against 12.63 per cent in the previous ...

TRENDS: ‘CD ratio decline in Kerala unprecedented’
Kochi, April 30 Reliable estimates of job losses in Kerala due to the slowdown are not available but the situation does not seem to be so good, said Dr P.M. Mathew, Director of Institute of Small Enterprises Development (ISED), considering ...

PRIVATE BANKS: HDFC Bank e-payment facility at Guruvayoor
Kochi, April 30 HDFC Bank has signed an agreement with Guruvayoor Devaswom for offering e-collection through HDFC Bank ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: South Indian Bank net up 28%
Kochi, April 30 The net profit of South Indian Bank has grown by 28 per cent to Rs 194.75 crore (Rs 151.62 crore last year) for the year 2008-09. Despite the adverse economic environment prevailing over the economy in general and the ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: United Bank net profit dips 42%
Kolkata, April 30 United Bank of India has posted a 45 per cent rise in operating profit at Rs 677 crore (Rs 467 crore in the previous year) and a 42 per cent dip in net profit to Rs 185 crore (Rs 319 crore) during the year ended March 31, ...

INTEREST RATES: PNB trims lending rates by 50 bps
New Delhi, April 30 Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday announced a reduction in its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 50 basis points to 11 per cent with effect from May 1. With this move, PNB has brought down its BPLR by 300 ...

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS: TN co-op banks union hails recapitalisation assistance
The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Bank Employees Association (TNCBEA) has welcomed the recapitalisation assistance to cooperative banks and societies in ...