Page 38 - Finance Sector

IIFL Finance net profit rises 29% to Rs 545 crore in December quarter

Non-bank lender IIFL Finance Wednesday reported a 29 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 545 crore for the December quarter on higher loan sales and resultant interest income, cushioning the impact of higher regulatory charges. Overall loan growth jumped 34 per cent to Rs 77,444 crore, led by its key products like gold and home loans, which grew 35 per cent and 25 per cent to Rs 24,692 crore and Rs 25,519 crore, respectively. Microfinance grew higher at 54 per cent to Rs 12,090 crore, digital loans soared 96 per cent to Rs 3,905 crore, and loans against property jumped 27 per cent to Rs 7,862 crore, the company said in a statement. Construction and real estate books stood at Rs 2,889 crore. Its total income grew 28 per cent to Rs 1,687.5 crore, the company added. The asset quality improved overall, with the gross non-performing assets ratio declining to 1.7 in the reporting period from 2.1 per cent and the net non-performing assets ratio declining to 0.9 from 1.1, said Nirmal Jain,

HDFC Bank offloads its entire 4.31 per cent stake in Bandhan Bank

Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer of HDFC Bank, has confirmed the development in the post-earnings media call without divulging any details

State govts may fix 'guarantees' at 5% of revenue, says RBI group

The RBI working group also recommended that besides charging a guarantee fee, states may levy an additional risk premium based on the risk category and the tenor of the underlying loan

RBI panel makes several suggestions on state government guarantees

A Reserve Bank working group has suggested that state governments should charge a minimum fee for guarantees extended by them on loans taken by their enterprises, local bodies, and cooperative institutions. Keeping in view the inherent risks associated with the guarantees extended by the state governments on their fiscal health and to the banking system, it was decided during the 32nd Conference of the State Finance Secretaries held in July 2022 to set up a Working Group, the RBI said in a statement on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank has released the 'Report of Working Group on State Government Guarantees' on its website. State governments are often required to sanction, and issue, on behalf of various state enterprises, cooperative institutions, urban local bodies, and other state-owned entities, guarantees in favour of their lenders which are generally commercial banks or other financial institutions. There is a specific ceiling of 0.5 per cent of GDP for additional guarantees to be ..

Bank of Maharashtra Q3 results: Profit jumps 34% to Rs 1,036 crore

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on Tuesday posted a 34 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 1,036 crore in the third quarter ended December 2023 due to improvement in interest income and a decline in bad loans. The Pune-based lender had posted a net profit of Rs 775 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Its total income increased to Rs 5,851 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 4,770 crore in the same period last year. Speaking about quarterly numbers BoM managing director AS Rajeev said the net interest income (NII) grew by 24.56 per cent to Rs 2,466 crore against Rs 1,980 crore in the year-ago period. The bank earned an interest income of Rs 5,171 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 4,129 crore a year ago. Rajeev further said operating profit has shown a growth of 27.32 per cent to Rs 2,012 crore from Rs 1,580 crore in Q3 FY23. The bank was able to reduce gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to 2.04 per cent of the gross loans by the end of December 2023 from 2

Over 8,600 bank accounts linked to cybercriminals frozen in Jharkhand

The maximum of 2,002 accounts were frozen in Deoghar district, followed by 1,183 in Dhanbad and 959 in Ranchi, he said

Delhi High Court allows lessor to inspect engine leased to Spicejet

Company tells court the low-cost carrier was 'cannibalising' parts of the engine

Bank of Baroda to raise up to Rs 5,000 cr via infra bonds in Jan: Bankers

The state-run bank is likely to invite bids from bankers and investors for the proposed issue this month, they said

HDFC Bank Q3 results: Profit up 34% at Rs 16,373 crore, GNPA rises to 1.26%

Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Tuesday reported a 34 per cent jump in its standalone net profit to Rs 16,373 crore for the third quarter ended December 2023. The bank had earned a net profit of Rs 12,259 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. Its total income on a standalone basis rose to Rs 81,720 crore in the October-December quarter of FY24 against Rs 51,208 crore in the year-ago period, HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing. On a consolidated basis, the bank's profit increased 39 per cent to Rs 17,718 crore from Rs 12,735 crore. The consolidated total income rose to Rs 1,15,015 crore from Rs 54,123 crore at the end of the same quarter the previous year. On the asset quality side, the bank witnessed a marginal increase in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to 1.26 per cent of the gross loans by the end of December 2023 from 1.23 per cent a year ago. However, its net NPAs came down to 0.31 per cent from 0.33 per cent at the end of the third

Govt extends low tax on edible oil import by another year to cap prices

Traders and processors will benefit from a zero base import tax until the end of March next year, according to a finance ministry notification

Sebi mulls liquidation flexibility for AIF, VCFs to deal with beyond tenure

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday proposed to provide flexibility to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) and their investors to deal with unliquidated investments of their schemes beyond expiry of tenure. In its consultation paper, the regulator suggested that instead of launching a new liquidation scheme by AIFs, the same scheme itself can be allowed to continue with the unliquidated investments beyond their tenure for a certain period or dissolution period for fully liquidating their unliquidated investments. Additionally, the regulator proposed extending flexibility of the dissolution process to venture capital funds through migration to the AIF regime. At present, the option to launch liquidation scheme is available only to those schemes of AIFs which are under 'Liquidation Period'-- the period of one year following the expiry of tenure of the scheme for fully liquidating the scheme and not available to VCFs, irrespective of whether their ..

Revised norms on fair lending practice effective from April 1, says RBI

The revised fair lending practice, which prohibits banks and NBFCs from using penal charges on loan defaults as a revenue enhancement tool, will come into effect from April 1, the Reserve Bank said on Monday. Concerned over the practice of banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) using penal interest as a revenue enhancement tool, the RBI on August 18 last year had modified norms, under which lenders would be able to levy only "reasonable" penal charges in case of default in repayment of loans. Banks, NBFCs, and other entities regulated by the RBI were given an extension of three months till April to implement the revised norms. In a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs), the RBI on Monday said that in the case of existing loans as well, the instructions shall come into effect from April 1, 2024, and the switchover to the new penal charges regime shall be ensured on the next review/ renewal date falling on or after April 1, 2024, but not later than June 30, 2024. On ...

Former Credit Suisse wealth executive Sandipan Roy joins Motilal Oswal

Sandipan Roy will be chief investment officer for the private wealth business, reporting to Ashish Shanker who heads the unit, according to a spokesperson for Motilal Oswal

S&P Global Ratings ups long-term issuer credit rating on Vedanta Resources

S&P Global Ratings on Monday said it has raised long-term issuer credit rating on Vedanta Resources. The rating has been upgraded to 'CCC+' from 'selective default'. On January 12, S&P Global Ratings downgraded debt-laden Vedanta Resources Ltd to 'selective default' after the mining conglomerate concluded a deal with creditors to extend the maturities of its three dollar bonds. S&P Global Ratings has also raised its long-term issue ratings on the company's outstanding bonds due in January and August this year, and March next year to 'CCC+' from 'D'. "Completion of the liability management exercise has alleviated refinancing risk for Vedanta Resources, although liquidity risks remain," S&P Global Ratings said in a statement. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings has raised its long-term issue rating on its April 2026 bond, which was not part of the liability management, to 'CCC+' from 'CCC'. The stable outlook on the London-headquartered firm reflects the high ...

RBI proposes tighter norms for deposit-taking housing finance firms

The central bank has also proposed the ceiling on public deposits held by HFCs be reduced to 1.5 times of net-owned funds from 3 times

RBI releases draft framework for fintech self-regulatory organisation

The body would work towards strengthening governance standards and addressing the sector's needs and challenges, the central bank said

MFIs' worries overstated, but it pays to be cautious: Manoj Nambiar

Manoj Nambiar spoke about how the industry is changing and why credit rating is customers' responsibility

Set objective rules for equity market re-entry

Before selling, outline a clear, objective reinvestment strategy. Set specific triggers for buying back, such as a particular market level or a 5-10% correction

On a high note: Bank deposits double in a little over 7 years, shows data

Two crucial events which helped to scale up deposits base were demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in 2016, and return of Rs 2,000 notes in the banks in 2023

Budget session of Parliament likely between January 31 and February 9

A brief Budget session of Parliament is likely to be held between January 31 and February 9, sources said on Thursday. President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the two houses on January 31, they said. The government would present a vote-on-account or an 'interim budget' on February 1. The new government will present a full-fledged budget later. Since the term of the 17th Lok Sabha ends on June 16, it is set to be the last session of Parliament before general elections are announced. In 2019, the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 and voting was held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19.