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☆ India Yes Bank's net profit rises 10.3% in April-June, misses estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The private lender's standalone net profit rose 10.3% for the April-June quarter from the same period last year to 3.43 billion rupees ($5.25 million), missing analysts' average forecast of 3.80 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data. Yes Bank's provisions and contingencies, net of recoveries made against loan accounts written off as bad, more than doubled to 3.60 billion rupees from 1.75 billion rupees a year earlier. The bank had outstanding security receipts worth 72.24 billion rupees, for which it has set aside 45.73 billion rupees. The Mumbai-based bank's net interest income, the difference between the interest earned on loans and paid to depositors, rose 8.1% to 20 billion rupees. The net interest margin, a key indicator of a bank's profitability, rose to 2.5% from 2.40% a year earlier.

Persons: Prashant Kumar, Kumar, Bank's, Siddhi Nayak, Robert Birsel, William Mallard Organizations: Bank, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Mumbai

☆ India's ICICI Bank beats estimates with record April-June net profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, July 22 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), India's second-largest private lender, beat expectations to deliver a record first-quarter net profit on Saturday, helped by higher interest income and loan growth. The Mumbai-based lender reported a near-40% rise year-on-year in net profit to 96.48 billion rupees ($1.18 billion) for the April-June quarter, beating analysts' forecast of 91.8 billion rupees, Refinitiv IBES data showed. Net interest income - the difference between interest earned and paid - rose 38% to 182.27 billion rupees. Net interest margin (NIM) expanded to 4.78% from 4.01% a year earlier, but was lower than 4.90% reported in the January-March quarter. The bank booked provisions and contingencies of 12.92 billion rupees, up from 11.44 billion a year earlier.

Persons: Sandeep Batra, NIM, Batra, Banks, Siddhi Nayak, William Mallard, Jason Neely, Clelia Organizations: ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Mumbai, India

☆ India forex reserves top $600 billion, rise to near 15-month high
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They rose by $12.74 billion from the week earlier - the biggest gain in four months - having risen by a total of $3.08 billion in the prior two weeks. "A major portion of the week-on-week jump in forex reserves is driven by revaluation gains due to dollar weakness and reduction in U.S. Treasury yields," said Gaura Sen Gupta, India economist at IDFC FIRST Bank. The current level of forex reserves, along with the RBI's forward foreign exchange book of $19.3 billion, is enough to cover over 11 months of imports, Reuters' calculations showed. In the week for which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee had logged its best week in four. Foreign Exchange Reserves (in million U.S. dollars)Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx)Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gaura Sen Gupta, Sen Gupta, Siddhi Nayak, Sohini Goswami, Nivedita Organizations: Treasury, IDFC FIRST Bank, Reuters, Reserve Bank of India's, National Securities Depository Limited, Foreign Exchange, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, U.S, India

☆ HDFC Bank signs up over 100,000 customers in digital rupee pilots
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, July 13 (Reuters) - India's largest private lender HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS) on Thursday said it has signed up over 100,000 customers and 170,000 merchants in pilot programmes using the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The lender also linked the CBDC, termed e-rupee, and United Payments Interface (UPI) for merchants and customers, which would enable payments through both CBDC and UPI using a single Quick Response (QR) code, HDFC Bank said in a statement. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has devised the e-rupee as a digital alternative to physical cash, using blockchain distributed-ledger technology. The central bank aims to reach a target of one million CBDC transactions per day by the end of this year from 5000-10,000 currently, Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said on Tuesday. Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Sonia CheemaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: T Rabi Sankar, Siddhi Nayak, Sonia Cheema Organizations: HDFC Bank, United, UPI, Reserve Bank of India, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

☆ India cenbank calls on more lenders to offer digital rupee - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly two dozen central banks across emerging and advanced economies are expected to have digital currencies in circulation by the end of the decade, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found in a survey, published on Monday. The RBI aims to reach a target of one million CBDC transactions per day by the end of this year, RBI deputy governor T Rabi Sankar said on Tuesday. There were 1.3 million customers and 0.3 million merchants, who used CBDC as of June 2023, he said. "We are in the advanced stage of submitting a CBDC pilot request to the RBI. The central bank has also asked smaller banks to seek feedback from those currently conducting the pilots, the bankers said.

Persons: T Rabi Sankar, Siddhi Nayak, Sohini Goswami Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Reuters, Bank for International Settlements, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Bank, BOB.NS

☆ India's Go First airline seeks investor interest as part of insolvency process
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, July 10 (Reuters) - India's Go Airlines (India) Ltd has invited investor interest in the company through a court-appointed administrator as part of the carrier's ongoing insolvency, a newspaper advertisement showed on Monday. Two bankers aware of the developments told Reuters on Monday that they expect Indian conglomerate Wadia Group - which used to own Go Airlines before it started bankruptcy proceedings - to be part of its insolvency process. Go Airlines and Wadia Group's Ness Wadia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. "They (Wadia Group) are not disqualified by law to bid for the airline because there has technically been no default," this banker said. Right after the bankruptcy filing, the airline's then chief executive had told Reuters that the Wadia Group was completely committed to the company.

Persons: Ness Wadia, Whitney, Yagnoseni Das, Rama Venkat, Nivedita Organizations: Go Airlines, Wadia, Airbus, Reuters, Wadia Group, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, India, Bengaluru, Siddhi Nayak, Mumbai

☆ India central bank looking to enhance fintech regulations, deputy governor Rabi Sankar says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, July 7 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on regulations that will be more "developmental" for financial technology, or fintech, companies, a deputy governor of the central bank said on Friday. "We are working on regulations (that) would be specific to fintech entities and the fintech ecosystem," T Rabi Sankar said at an event in Bengaluru. The central bank has been monitoring the fintech space lately to ensure financial stability and mitigate risks related to cybersecurity and prevent fraud. The RBI is talking to fintech companies and any regulations in that regard will only be after "close consultation" with the industry, he added, without providing a timeline for the same. Fintechs need to devote their attention to governance, compliance, business conduct, and adopting risk mitigation practices for long-term business stability, Sankar said, adding that any innovation should be "responsible and beneficial."

Persons: T Rabi Sankar, Sankar, Siddhi Nayak, Janane Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Bengaluru

☆ HDFC to merge into HDFC Bank on July 1, create India’s financial behemoth
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Both the companies have set July 13 as the "record date" to swap HDFC's shares with HDFC Bank's stock for its shareholders, HDFC and HDFC Bank said in separate exchange filings on Friday. With the share swap, HDFC Bank will become one of the world's top 10 banks in terms of market capitalisation, as per Refinitiv data. After the merger, HDFC Bank has no identified promoter. With the merger, HDFC Bank's total loan book will be over 22 trillion rupees, behind only that of State Bank of India (SBI.NS), the country’s largest lender. Both the entities have set July 12 as a record date for transfer of non-convertible debentures of HDFC in the name of HDFC Bank.

Persons: Sashidhar Jagdishan, HDFC's Keki Mistry, Siddhi Nayak, Jose Joseph, Shilpi Majumdar, Maju Samuel Organizations: Housing Development Finance Corp, HDFC Bank, HDFC, State Bank of India, Reuters, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: Renu, India, HDFC

☆ India's quarterly current account gap narrows as trade deficit shrinks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Swati Bhat | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, June 27 (Reuters) - India's current account deficit narrowed sharply in the January to March quarter, helped by a smaller trade gap and increased services exports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Wednesday. The current account deficit (CAD) (INCURA=ECI) stood at $1.3 billion, or 0.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), in the fourth quarter of the 2022/23 fiscal year, compared with the previous quarter's revised deficit of $16.8 billion, or 2% of GDP. The deficit had stood at $13.4 billion in the same period a year earlier, the data showed. Forecasts ranged widely, from a deficit of $5 billion to a surplus of $7.8 billion. For the 2022/23 fiscal year the current account balance showed a deficit of 2% of GDP versus a deficit of 1.2% in the preceding financial year as the trade deficit widened to $265.3 billion from $189.5 billion a year earlier.

Persons: Aditi Gupta, Baroda's Gupta, Siddhi Nayak, Sudipto Ganguly, Clarence Fernandez, David Goodman Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Reuters Graphics, Baroda, Bank, Baroda's, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

☆ Rupee hits one-month high on likely corporate dollar inflows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MUMBAI, June 14 (Reuters) - Indian rupee hit a one-month high against the U.S. currency on Wednesday led by likely corporate dollar inflows, five traders said. The rupee hit the day's high of 82.1250 to the dollar, its highest since May 12, and was up 0.3% at 1:55 p.m. IST. "A large foreign bank is on dollar sales, most likely on behalf of a leading telecom company," a trader with a state-run bank said. "Once the rupee rose above 82.24, dollar long stop losses were hit." Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; editing by Eileen SorengOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Siddhi Nayak, Eileen Soreng Organizations: Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

☆ About 80% of Indians choose to deposit withdrawn 2000-rupee notes, boost bank deposits - bankers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, June 7 (Reuters) - About three-fourths of Indians are choosing to deposit the recently withdrawn 2000-rupee notes into bank accounts so far rather than exchanging them for smaller denominations, with the trend likely to boost bank deposits, bankers said. In May, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would withdraw these high-value notes from circulation and permitted their exchange or deposit until Sept. 30. When announced, the value of these notes in circulation was 3.6 trillion rupees ($43.61 billion), the RBI said. Though the total quantum of notes deposited or exchanged so far is not available, six public and private sector bankers Reuters spoke to said over 80% of the notes received by them have been deposited into accounts. The initial assumption is the overall bank deposit base would increase by at least 1.5 trillion rupees, with SBI contributing 22%-25%, the SBI official said.

Persons: Virat Diwanji, Gaura Sen Gupta, Dipanwita Mazumdar, Siddhi Nayak, Swati Bhat, Sonia Cheema Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Reuters, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC FIRST Bank, SBI, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, BOB.NS, India

☆ India's forex reserves fall for second straight week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, June 2 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) fell for a second consecutive week and stood at a one-month low of $589.14 billion as of May 26, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data showed on Friday. Reserves had fallen by $6.05 billion in the week ended May 19, the biggest fall in more than three months. Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. The rupee rose 0.1% in the week ended May 26, having traded in a range of 82.5575 to 82.8500. The rupee ended at 82.3050 on Friday to record its best week in five.

Persons: Siddhi Nayak, Savio D'Souza Organizations: Reserve Bank of India's, International Monetary Fund, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

MUMBAI, May 29 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India has come across instances of some banks trying to conceal the real status of their stressed assets while governance gaps have also been noticed at certain lenders, its governor said on Monday. Das also said that despite the guidelines on corporate governance, it was a matter of concern that the RBI has come across gaps in governance at certain banks, which have the potential to cause some volatility in the sector. "While these gaps have been mitigated, it is necessary that boards and the managements do not allow such gaps to creep in," he said. A robust governance structure is the most important requirement to ensure the stability of a bank and sustainable financial performance, Das added. "RBI has engaged with certain banks on the need to make suitable adjustments in their business strategies where it was observed that over-aggressive growth in certain business segments were creating avoidable vulnerabilities," Das said.

☆ India's note withdrawal to improve liquidity, ease short-term rates - analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, May 22(Reuters) - The Indian central bank's decision to withdraw its highest denomination currency note from circulation is likely to improve banking system liquidity, bringing down recently elevated short term rates, analysts and bankers said. Kotak Institutional Equities estimates that liquidity could improve by around 1 trillion rupees, depending on the behaviour of depositors, while QuantEco Research pegs the potential liquidity impact at 400 billion rupees to 1.1 trillion rupees. ICICI Securities Primary Dealership estimates the liquidity surplus could increase to 1.5-2 trillion rupees. India's banking system liquidity surplus has averaged above 600 billion rupees in May. About 2.5-3 trillion rupees of banking sector liquidity leaks out as currency in circulation each year, wrote Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.

☆ India's forex reserves edge towards $600 billion, hit near 1-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Changes in forex reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses. For the week to which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee fell by 0.4%, dragged down by a broader strength in the dollar index. The local unit had traded in a range of 81.6900 to 82.2250. The rupee fell further by 0.6% this week, its worst fall in two months. The local unit ended at 82.66 against the dollar on Friday.

The RBI's repo rate is at 6.50%. Banks met officials from the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA) last week to raise the issue of persistently high overnight rates. FIMMDA and RBI officials did not respond to Reuters' emails seeking comment. Even as overnight rates stay elevated, treasury officials are not anticipating any infusion from the RBI as they expect liquidity conditions to improve in due course. That dividend transfer, according to traders, could top 1 trillion rupees ($12.23 billion), sharply above the budgeted 480 billion rupees.

The cash-strapped airline wants the tribunal to accept its plea and is seeking an interim moratorium to save its assets, a move the lessors oppose. Go First did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lessors' bid to deregister the planes. Engine failures have cost the airline 108 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) in lost revenue and expenses, it said. Amid the dispute between the lessors and the troubled airline, banks with exposure to it are awaiting the tribunal's decision to decide their next course of action, two people involved in the talks told Reuters. The company owes financial creditors 65.21 billion rupees ($798 million), its bankruptcy filing showed, and had not defaulted on any of those dues by the end of April.

☆ HDFC Bank to open more than 675 branches in semi-urban, rural areas in fiscal year 2024, bank official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, May 4 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), India's largest private lender, is planning to open more than 675 branches in the semi-urban and rural geographies across the country in 2023-24, a senior bank official said on Thursday. The move is part of the lender's new programme targeting customers in semi-urban and rural areas, helping the bank meet some of its Priority Sector Lending (PSL) targets. PSL requirements, which include lending to weaker segments of the economy, are linked to an organisation's loan book. Of this, around 52% of the bank's branches are in the semi-urban and rural areas. Going forward, HDFC Bank aims to double business in semi-urban and rural areas - both by assets and liabilities - in the next two-to-three years, Vohra said.

☆ India's Go First Airways owes financial creditors $798 million - filing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Arpan Chaturvedi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, May 2 (Reuters) - Indian airline Go First, which filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, owes financial creditors 65.21 billion Indian rupees ($798 million), its bankruptcy filing showed. "However, considering the present financial situation of the corporate applicant, defaults to financial creditors would be imminent," the filing said. The filing lists Central Bank of India (CBI.NS), Bank of Baroda (BOB.NS), IDBI Bank (IDBI.NS), Axis Bank (AXBK.NS) and Deutsche Bank among Go First's financial creditors. The airline's total liabilities to all creditors stand at 114.63 billion rupees, the filing shows. The company has defaulted on payments to operational creditors, including 12.02 billion rupees to vendors and 26.60 billion rupees to aircraft lessors.

☆ India's Kotak Mahindra Bank beats expectations with 26% net profit rise in Jan-March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, April 29(Reuters) - India's Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS) on Saturday reported a better-than-expected 26% increase in net profit for the January-March quarter, helped by higher net interest income and strong loan growth. The private lender's standalone net profit, excluding subsidiaries, rose to 34.96 billion rupees ($427.8 million) in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year from 27.67 billion rupees in the same period last year. The result beat analysts' forecast of 29.13 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data. Net interest income - the difference between interest earned and interest expended - increased 35% to 61.03 billion rupees from 45.21 billion rupees a year ago. Thanks to strong credit growth, large private banks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank reported a double-digit profit growth for the Jan-March quarter.

☆ India's Axis Bank reports wider-than-expected Q4 loss on Citi deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Axis reported a loss of 57.28 billion rupees ($700.1 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared to a profit of 41.18 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts had forecast the bank to report a loss of 8.06 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data. It reported a standalone operating profit, which excludes provisions and contingencies, of 91.68 billion rupees, compared to 64.66 billion rupees a year earlier. The bank's net interest income, the difference between interest earned and expended, grew 33% to 117.42 billion rupees. Provision and contingencies for the quarter stood at 3.06 billion rupees, down from 9.87 billion rupees a year ago.

☆ India ICICI Bank’s net profit jumps 30% in January-March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MUMBAI, April 22 (Reuters) - Indian private lender ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) on Saturday reported a near 30% increase in net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter ending in March, on the back of improved net interest income and healthy loan growth. Standalone net profit for the quarter was 91.22 billion Indian rupees ($1.11 billion), up from 70.19 billion rupees in the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts had forecast the bank to report a net profit of 90.41 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data. ($1 = 82.0300 Indian rupees)Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India's ICICI Bank posts 30% jump in Q4 net profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, April 22 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) on Saturday reported a 30% increase in fourth-quarter net profit helped by improved net interest income and growth in loans. Standalone net profit rose to a record 91.22 billion Indian rupees ($1.11 billion) from 70.19 billion a year earlier. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 40.2% to 176.67 billion rupees while the private lender's net interest margin widened to 4.90% from 4%. "At this point in time, we are very comfortable with our deposit growth," Executive Director Sandeep Batra told reporters on a conference call. "I do not think deposit growth will be a constraint to our ability to grow our assets in a risk-calibrated manner."

☆ India Yes Bank’s net profit drops 45% in January-March on higher provisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, April 22 (Reuters) - India's Yes Bank (YESB.NS) on Saturday reported a near 45% drop in net profit year-on-year for the January-March quarter as provisions for bad loans increased. Net profit fell to 2.02 billion Indian rupees ($24.63 million) for the reporting quarter from 3.67 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier. Compared with the previous quarter, net profit was three times higher, owing to a low base in the prior period. Yes Bank’s provisions and contingencies increased to 6.18 billion rupees from 2.71 billion rupees a year earlier. The net NPA ratio was 0.83%, down from 1.03% in the prior three months.

Unsecured loans – mostly personal loans and credit cards – do not carry any collateral and therefore pose higher risk. Indian banks have been growing their unsecured lending portfolio as the pandemic-induced stress began to ease. "Risks in unsecured lending has been on the RBI's radar," said a senior official at a private bank. This has pushed up the weighted average lending rate of banks by 95 bps in the same period. "It is trying to identify early warning signals in unsecured lending to not be caught off guard later."

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