India Inc's quarterly net profit reached a record high of Rs 1.64 trillion in the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, mainly due to gains from higher commodity prices and a big swing in banks' earnings. The combined net profit of 3,323 listed companies that have declared results so far was up 68.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY). In comparison, earnings were up six times (534 per cent) in the second quarter and 6.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
Embattled retailer Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court to avert insolvency proceedings over missing a loan repayment deadline, even as its independent directors rejected an Amazon-supported offer to sell the company businesses at less than a third of what Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is offering. India's second-largest retailer, which operates multi-brand retail chains such as Big Bazaar, Easyday and Heritage, failed to pay Rs 3,494.56 crore to lenders by the due date of December-end and sought a 30-day grace period to resolve the situation. Unable to find money, it moved the apex court seeking to restrain its lenders from declaring the company a defaulter, which can invite initiation of insolvency proceedings.
BofA Merrill also upgrades its price objectives for private banks, retaining ICICI Bank Ltd as its top pick, and HDFC Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd as its 'preferred' names.
As a young management trainee with SAIL, Pallav Mohapatra was spoilt for choice. He had offers from Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and State Bank of India. He chose SBI only because the bank offered him a posting in Lucknow.
Cox & Kings is currently going through the corporate insolvency resolution process. Around 2,500 operational creditors have submitted claims of over Rs 631 crore, 2,440 employees and workman have claimed dues of over Rs 94 crore and other creditors have submitted claims of over Rs 3 crore.
Banks and builders are offering lower rates and freebies, but there is also a case for price correction in the future. Wait, if you are not desperate.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
Restoring the bank to its former glory will be the top priority for Vijayalakshmi Iyer, the seasoned banker who took over as chairperson and managing director of the Mumbai-based bank last month.
There would be no retrenchment of employees and that their services conditions would also not be affected post merger.
The recapitalisation, the finance minister said, will enhance the lending capacity of state-owned banks and help them come out of RBI's Prompt Corrective Action framework.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated discussions with banks to address financial stress in the telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) that urgently requires fund infusion to stay afloat. There was a meeting of DOT officials and senior bankers on Friday on the issue of Vodafone, sources said, adding that banks have been asked to look for a solution within the prudential guidelines. According to sources, senior officials from the country's biggest lenders State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also present among others in the meeting. More such meetings are expected to take place in the coming days, they said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks not to treat Kingfisher Airlines' brand as collateral since it is intangible. This is because the loan has turned non-performing for most of the banks.
Vikram Kothari's Rotomac stares at a loan default of Rs 369 crore
Investor interest in banks and real estate companies dipped and these stocks witnessed correction post the policy announcements.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Stocks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank are among the top banking picks of analysts for 2017. A decline in cost of funds and treasury gains are expected to help stabilise their net interest margins
It is nearly after 13 years that a foreign brokerage has resumed holistic coverage on stocks of public sector banks (PSBs). To that extent, Morgan Stanley's report dated March 3, where the analysts have listed their order of preference for PSB stocks, is an indication that the state-owned banks may once again be attracting some interest, thanks to three back-to-back quarters of good results in FY21 so far. "State-owned banks' balance sheets have improved, and bad loans formation should moderate going forward," the analysts note and this is the key reason for them to relook at their stance on PSBs. While State Bank of India (SBI) remains their preferred pick, stocks of Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) have been upgraded from 'underweight' to 'equal-weight'. The brokerage maintains its underweight recommendation on Bank of India and Canara Bank.
Banks say they themselves red-flagged the transactions to RBI. It must be noted that these transactions are not outright evidence of fraud or proof of nefarious activities.
More than a dozen corporates, including big names such as Aditya Birla Group, M&M, L&T, as well as state-owned PFC, LIC and India Post, are likely to apply to the Reserve Bank for licence to open banks.
The largest financial institution, LIC, led the list of companies that paid up their advance tax this morning, with a spike in the amount to Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) from Rs 1,070 crore (Rs 10.70 billion) a year ago, a senior income tax official said in New Delhi on Thursday.
From India, Reliance Industries is the only one in the overall top-200 list and is followed by HDFC Bank at 209th, ONGC at 220th, Indian Oil at 288th and HDFC Ltd at 332nd place.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Finance secretary Rajiv Kumar was positive in formation of a committee consisting all concerned to address the issues arising out of the proposed merger of 10 banks including preserving the identity of all the banks.
SBI keeps IDBI waiting for proposal to set up infra development fund
Rating agencies on Wednesday warned against more exposure to debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines, saying more debt may hit banks' credit profiles and add to the burden of provisions.
Sources close to the bank said non-executive and non-independent director Ajai kumar had been recommended for the interim CEO role.
Two Indians, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed in the ghastly terror attack on a shopping mall in Kenya, an incident which was strongly condemned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who reminded the world community about the need for concerted effort to control such mindless violence.
Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Friday made an urgent application before the UK High Court seeking access to millions of pounds to cover his living expenses and legal fees from funds held with the Court Funds Office as part of bankruptcy proceedings, initiated by a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India. Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Robert Schaffer declined to allow a draw down from the court-held funds of an estimated amount of around 1.5 million pounds, accrued from the sale of Mallya's French luxury property Le Grand Jardin earlier this year, until further arguments in the case. However, he did allow the release of 240,000 pounds plus VAT to cover the legal costs of a substantive hearing in the bankruptcy proceedings scheduled for next Friday.
Bank of Baroda said it received a notice of one day strike scheduled for February 21 by the bank employee unions.
'Start-ups that generate a majority of their income in India are likely to opt for an Indian listing.'
Rating agency Fitch on upgraded outlook of 10 financial institutionals, including SBI, ICICI Bank and EXIM Bank of India to 'stable' from 'negative' earlier following revision in the country's outlook.
A British court on Monday granted a bankruptcy order against Vijay Mallya, paving the way for a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to pursue a worldwide freezing order to seek repayment of debt owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. "As at 15.42 [UK time], I shall adjudicate Dr Mallya bankrupt," Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs said in his ruling during a virtual hearing of the Chancery Division of the high court. "I have to decide if there is a real prospect of payment of petition debt in full within a reasonable period of time... there is insufficient evidence that [Mallya's asset realisations in India] will pay the debt in full within a reasonable period of time," Judge Briggs noted, in reference to defence arguments pointing to a restoration process in India following a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court order for the attachment of Mallya's assets.
The candidate will be expected to have at least two to three years of remaining service.
The decision was taken at the State Bank of India headquarters in Mumbai on Monday when the top managements of the lenders met.
After private banks, it is now the turn of large public sector banks to raise interest rates on non-resident (external) rupee (NRE) deposits after the central bank lifted the cap on rates for these deposits.
Expect rate rise pause, amid market expectations to the contrary.
The new interest rates will be effective from August 19 and will be applicable to both resident and non-resident customers.
A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday moved a step closer in their attempt to recover debt from loans paid out to Vijay Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines after the high court in London upheld an application to amend their bankruptcy petition, in favour of waiving their security over the embattled businessman's assets in India. Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs handed down his judgment in favour of the banks to declare there is no public policy that prevents a waiver of security rights, as argued by Mallya's lawyers. At a virtual hearing, July 26 was set as the date for final arguments for and against granting a bankruptcy order against the 65-year-old Mallya after the banks accused him of trying to "kick matters into the long grass" and called on the "bankruptcy petition to be brought to its inevitable end".
