Public sector Uco Bank posted a 177.4% rise in net profit at Rs 86 crore during the fourth quarter of the fiscal ended March 31, 2008. For the financial year 2007-08, net profit of the bank increased by 30.4% to Rs 412 crore. The bank had to provide for Rs 130 crore for depreciation of securities - mark-to-market losses - in the last few days of the fiscal. The bank achieved a total business of Rs 1.35 lakh crore, up by 20.7% from the previous financial year. Total deposits increased 23.2% to Rs 79,909 crore, while advances grew 17.2% to Rs 55,627 crore. Its non-performing assets were at 1.98%. Increase in yield on advances and return on assets, apart from robust recovery were the main drivers for growth.
The finance ministry is expected to approve the conversion of Rs 300 crore of equity into preference shares. Once this comes through, its capital will come down from 800 crore at present to Rs 500 crore. Additional capital of Rs 100 crore will be raised through a Follow on Public Offer in the third quarter of current fiscal. Meanwhile it is also planning to raise Rs 325 crore through perpetual non-cumulative preference shares by June.
The bank has a capital adequacy ratio of 10.09%, which has made itself Basel -II compliant during the year. As per Basel-II, the capital adequacy was 11.02%. The bank is looking for a 22% and 20% growth in deposits and advances in the current year.
Read More...
Summary only...
In what may turn out to be the largest ever acquisition by an Indian company, the country’s biggest private telecom player Bharti Airtel said it was in talks to acquire South Africa’s MTN. This is the first time that both companies have officially confirmed that they have entered into discussions for a possible stake sale. The board of MTN, South Africa’s largest telcom, is learnt to have met on Monday to discuss the potential buyout from Bharti.
MTN has operations in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East like Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Iran, Afghanistan, Ghana, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and other countries. The Indian model of low tariffs and high volumes can easily be replicated in the nations where demand for cellular services is high and volumes are related to tariffs. MTN has more than 68 million customers, which is just about a little larger than the customer base of Bharti Airtel. MTN has a market cap of more than more than $35 billion, while Bharti is valued about $45 billion. Discussions between Bharti Airtel and MTN Group of South Africa are still at an early stage, and exploratory in nature that may or may not lead to any transaction. Accordingly, investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s securities until a further announcement is made.
Read More...
Summary only...
SBI posted a net profit of Rs 1,883 crore in the fourth quarter as against Rs 1,493 crore in the corresponding period last year, showing a growth of 26.1%. Its operating profit grew to Rs 4,373 crore as against Rs 3,969 crore, posting a growth of 10.2%. Total interest income was at Rs 13,577 crore as against Rs 10,518 crore showing a growth of 29.1% and non-interest income at Rs 2,817 crore as against Rs 2,668 crore showing a growth of 5.6%. The net interest income was at Rs 4,801 crore as against Rs 4,547 crore showing a growth of 5.6 per cent. The bank had booked no loss on account of exposure of derivatives in the Indian market. But for overseas exposure, the bank had taken a hit of $20 million. SBI had made a provision of $10 million in this regard.
For the whole year ended 2007-08, State Bank of India posted 48.2% growth in net profit at Rs 6,729 crore in 2007-08 as against Rs 4,541 crore in 2006-07 and 31.1% in operating profit at Rs 13,107 crore as against Rs 10,000 crore. Total interest income was at Rs 48,950 crore as against Rs 37,242 crore showing a growth of 31.4%, non-interest income at Rs 8,695 crore as against Rs 6,765 crore, a growth of 28.5% while net interest income stood at Rs 17,021 crore, a growth of 13.1%. The provisions during the year amounted to Rs 2,668 crore (Rs 2,410 crore), a growth of 10.7%.
Total business growth during the year under review amounted to Rs 181,000 crore. The deposit growth was Rs 101,885 crore, a 23.4% growth to touch Rs 537,406 crore and advances were up by Rs 79,949 crore or a growth of 23.4% to touch to Rs 422,181 crore. The market share in deposits increased from 14.8% to 15.4%, driven by low-cost deposits where market share increased from 13.9% to 17.4%. Mid-corporate advances grew by 24.4%, SME advances by 26.3%, agriculture advances by 24.6%, home loans by 18.7% and international advances on year-to-year basis by 50.4%. The total NPAs amounted to Rs 12,837 crore. The gross NPA ratio was 3.04% (2.92%) and net NPA ratio 1.78% (1.56%).
Read More...
Summary only...
