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☆ India HDFC Bank's net profit jumps 19.8% in January-March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, April 15(Reuters) - HDFC Bank Ltd (HDBK.NS), India's largest private lender, on Saturday reported a 19.8% jump in net profit for the January-March quarter, aided by healthy net interest income and robust loan growth. The net profit however missed street estimates. Core net interest margin - a key indicator of bank's profitability - stood at 4.1% on total assets in the reporting quarter. Net NPA ratio was at 0.27% from 0.33% in October-December. Provisions and contingencies fell to 26.85 billion rupees from 33.12 billion rupees last year.

☆ India's forex reserves jump to 9-month high
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MUMBAI, April 14 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) jumped to $584.76 billion for the week ended April 7, the highest in nine months, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statistical supplement showed on Friday. The central bank intervenes in the spot and forwards markets to prevent runaway moves in the rupee . Changes in forex reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses. For the reported week, the rupee ended 0.3% higher against the U.S. dollar. The rupee closed at 81.85 on Thursday and clocked its fourth consecutive weekly rise for the holiday-shortened week ending April 14.

☆ Instant View: Here’s what experts think of India's surprise rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

The monetary policy committee (MPC) retained the key lending rate or the repo rate (INREPO=ECI) at 6.50% in a unanimous decision. With the likely softening of CPI to the low- to mid-5% levels in the coming month, the current repo rate of 6.5% implies that India’s real policy rate will hover around 1% during 2023-24, while maintaining a policy rate differential of about 1.5% with the US. Room for additional rate hikes has been retained with MPC’s policy stance continuing to remain unchanged at ‘withdrawal of accommodation’. We believe the bar for future rate hikes has increased, especially since near-term prints of CPI will be sub 6%. Scope for further hikes is limited given our growth-inflation outlook and impact of the past rate hikes on the same.

☆ Adani trumpets stable ties to global banks in bid to ease investor worries, document shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Aditya Kalra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The document, which was reviewed by Reuters, did not elaborate on how the lenders reaffirmed their commitment to the Adani group. Adani group did not respond to a request for comment. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) (8306.T), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc's (8316.T) SMBC unit, Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T), Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) did not immediately respond. CONCERNS ABOUT DEBTThe Hindenburg report had sparked concern among investors about banks' exposures to the Adani group. Now, 39% of Adani's debt is currently in the form of bonds, 29% is from global banks and 32% comes from public or private banks in India, the Adani document added.

☆ Exclusive: India's Bank of Baroda stops clearing payment for above-cap Russian oil - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Nidhi Verma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Bank of Baroda is extremely cautious in settling payments for Russian oil bought (at levels) above the price cap," one of the sources said. After Western sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Indian refiners have been gorging on discounted Russian oil. Russia has replaced Iraq as the top oil supplier to India in the last few months, data from trade sources showed. It was not clear if Axis Bank had also stopped settling trades for Russian oil sold above the price cap. India does not recognise the Western price cap on Russian oil, a senior oil ministry source said last month.

REUTERS/Thomas White/IllustrationMUMBAI/NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - A surge in India's services exports, which hit a record high in the October-December quarter, is expected to shield the economy from external risks as a slowing global economy will likely weigh on the country's merchandise exports. Services exports will likely surpass goods exports by March 2025, he said. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsIT services still accounted for 45% of India's total services exports in April-December. EXTERNAL SHIELDThe continued rise in services exports is likely to help rein in India's current account deficit. There is room for further growth with India's share in world commercial services exports currently just at around 4%."

NEW DELHI, March 27 (Reuters) - Indian banks must give defaulters an opportunity to be heard before they classify a loan account as fraud, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday. Banks cannot unilaterally declare an account as fraud without providing the defaulter the right to be heard, a top court bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said. However, there is no such requirement before registering a first information report (FIR) to declare a loan account as fraud, the bench observed. The apex court was examining judgements by the Telangana High Court and Gujarat High Court on the Reserve Bank of India (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select Fls Directions 2016) master circular. Telangana High Court had ruled that not granting the right to be heard infringes on the borrowers' constitutional right.

☆ Explainer: How resilient are Indian lenders amid a global banking turmoil?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

He does not foresee a direct impact of the global banking turmoil on Indian banks. HOW WELL CAPITALISED ARE INDIAN BANKS? Reuters GraphicsHOW ARE INDIAN BANKS' BOND PORTFOLIOS PERFORMING? Indian banks are not facing the same level of pressure on their bond portfolios as U.S banks because Indian interest rates have risen less. If Indian banks mark their held-to-maturity (HTM) investments to market, it would bring down their CET-1 capital by 12-25%, estimates Moody's Investors Service.

☆ Jefferies sees softer impact of Credit Suisse crisis on India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 16 (Reuters) - India's banking sector will likely have a softer impact from the troubles at Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), given the Swiss lender's relatively small presence in the country, equity analysts at Jefferies said on Thursday. Credit Suisse has a 1.5% share among foreign banks' assets in India and a 'small' 0.1% share of overall banking assets in the country, Jefferies estimated. It has only 1 branch in India and total assets of over 200 billion rupees ($2.42 billion), it said. "Given the relevance of Credit Suisse to India's banking sector, we see softer adjustments in assessment of counter-party risks, especially in the derivative market," analysts Prakhar Sharma and Vinayak Agarwal said in a note. This may also lead to institutional deposits moving more towards larger or quality banks, Jefferies said.

One of the government officials directly involved in the matter said New Delhi is "not comfortable" with foreign trade settled in yuan but said settlement in "dirham is okay." The second official said that India cannot allow settlement in yuan till the relations between the two countries improve. The five officials did not say whether there were also economic reasons behind India's reluctance to accept yuan settlement. Two banking officials, aware of the matter, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not keen on foreign trade settlement in yuan, and confirmed that the government has discouraged them from using the currency. They also said Russia was keen on yuan settlement as it helps them in purchases of goods from China.

☆ India's forex reserves at 11-week low, down for third week
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) fell for the third straight week to hit an eleven-week low of $561.27 billion as of the week ended Feb. 17, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statistical supplement showed on Friday. The reserves fell by $5.68 billion at the end of last week, data showed. The reserves stood at $566.95 billion in the week to Feb. 10, down $8.3 billion from the previous week. The RBI has said in the past that changes in reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses. Last week, the rupee fell 0.4% against the dollar, logging its fourth consecutive weekly decline, but outperformed its Asian peers.

☆ This startup is using precision fermentation to make plant-based food taste better. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck Paleo used to secure $12.8 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Belgian startup Paleo just raised $12.8 million to make plant-based food taste better. A European foodtech startup cofounded by a former Belgian senator has just raised 12 million euros (around $12.8 million) to make plant-based food taste better. The proteins are a form of heme, which has been deemed key in unlocking a meaty look, taste, texture, and aroma for plant-based food. Paleo will sell its products to other plant-based food companies so they don't have to develop it in-house. "The main challenge now in the plant-based food space, it's taste, and that's exactly where we offer a solution," he said.

☆ India, Singapore launch real-time link for cross-border payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - India and Singapore launched on Tuesday a real-time link to facilitate easier cross border money transfers between one of the world's biggest recipients of remittances and an Asian financial powerhouse. Transfers of funds will now be possible using just mobile phones due to the tie-up between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore's PayNow facility. UPI is an instant real-time payments system, allowing users to transfer money across multiple banks without disclosing bank account details. To begin with, State Bank of India (SBI.NS), Indian Overseas Bank (IOBK.NS), Indian Bank (INBA.NS) and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) will facilitate both inward and outward remittances while Axis Bank (AXBK.NS) and DBS India will facilitate inward remittances, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement. At the launch event, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that cross-border retail payments and remittances between India and Singapore currently amount to over $1 billion annually.

☆ Indian banks' exposure to Adani group "insufficient" to pose credit risk - Fitch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MUMBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The exposure of Indian banks to the embattled Adani Group is "insufficient in itself" to present a substantial risk to the credit profiles of these lenders, Fitch Ratings said in a note on Tuesday. Fitch estimated that loans to all Adani group entities generally account for 0.8%-1.2% of total lending for Indian banks rated by the agency, equivalent to 7%-13% of total equity. SBI's total exposure was 0.9% of its total loan book, or around 270 billion rupees, Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara has said. Additionally, most of the bank's exposure to the Adani Group was secured by completed and cash-generating assets while the rest of the exposure was to on-schedule, under-construction projects, said CreditSights. Fitch, however, cautioned that Indian state banks could face pressure to provide refinancing for Adani entities if foreign banks scale back their exposure or investor appetite for the group's debt weakens in global markets.

But the market turmoil led its flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) to abandon a $2.5 billion secondary share offering on Wednesday, prompting concerns at lenders. 1 lender, SBI says the bank has about 270 billion rupees ($3.3 billion) in loans to Adani Group. Bank debt forms 38% of the total debt of 2.1 trillion rupees at the top five Adani companies, according to a Jefferies report. Senior executives at six other Indian lenders, with exposure to Adani companies, told Reuters they had also decided to tighten the credit approval process for Adani. India's central bank has asked local banks for details of their exposure to Adani companies, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing government and banking sources.

[1/2] The logo of the Adani Group is seen on the facade of its Corporate House on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Amit DaveMUMBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Indian conglomerate Adani Group's locally listed bonds have resisted the panic selling in the groups' dollar-denominated debt and domestically listed stocks since last Wednesday following short-seller Hindenburg Research's scathing report on the group. The top five Adani Group companies – Adani Power (ADAN.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS), Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) – have outstanding rupee bonds worth around 170 billion rupees, according to brokerage CLSA. However, Srinivasan said the Adani Group firms could find it difficult to raise fresh funds from the local bond markets until the concerns raised by Hindenburg were addressed. Moreover, Adani Group companies have not been rolling over many of their short-term commercial papers and instead allowed them to mature.

MUMBAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Some of India's leading public sector banks said on Friday their exposure to the Adani Group was within the limits prescribed by the central bank, assuaging fears of default risks from their exposure to the conglomerate. Public sector banks in India have in the past been hit by massive corporate defaults. The board will take any decision on the bank's exposure to the group only after that, the official said. The Adani Group comprises the flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (ADEL.NS), as well as Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSE.NS), Adani Power Ltd (ADAN.NS), Adani Green Energy Ltd (ADNA.NS) and Adani Transmission Ltd (ADAI.NS). For public sector banks, the debt is at 0.7% of total loans and for private banks, it is at 0.3%.

☆ India's Kotak Mahindra Bank's Oct-Dec net profit jumps 31%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Jan 21(Reuters) - India's Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS) on Saturday reported a 31% increase in standalone net profit for the October-December quarter, aided by a strong topline and healthy loan growth. The private lender's standalone profit stood at 27.92 billion rupees ($344.2 million) compared with 21.31 billion rupees in the same period last year. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose 30.4% from a year ago to 56.53 billion rupees, while other income rose nearly 54%. The net interest margin was at 5.47% as compared to 4.62% last year. As of Dec. 31, the bank held Covid-related provisions worth four billion rupees.

☆ India's Yes Bank has 'strong' grounds to appeal ATI bonds court order, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Jan 21 (Reuters) - India's Yes Bank (YESB.NS) has "strong" legal grounds to appeal against a court order quashing the write-off of its additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds, Chief Executive Officer Prashant Kumar said on Saturday. "The judgment in itself is not questioning the regulatory guidelines in terms of writing off (AT1 bonds). "We have strong legal advises and opinions which interpret the issue in a different way and that makes a strong ground for us to appeal in the Supreme Court." The bonds were written off as part of a restructuring plan to rescue Yes Bank in March 2020. Yes Bank said in a stock exchange filing late on Friday it is in the process of preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court.

☆ India ICICI Bank’s profit jumps 34% in October-December
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Jan 21(Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) on Saturday reported a 34.2% increase in net profit for the October-December quarter, on the back of improved revenues and healthy loan growth. Net profit for the quarter was 83.12 billion Indian rupees ($1.03 billion) up from 61.94 billion rupees in the same quarter a year earlier. That was in line with analysts' forecast of 81.25 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 34.6% to 164.65 billion rupees from 122.36 billion rupees last year. However, provisions and contingencies increased to 22.57 billion rupees from 16.44 billion rupees in the September quarter.

☆ India's Yes Bank reports surprise 80% plunge in quarterly profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, Jan 21 (Reuters) - India's Yes Bank (YESB.NS) reported a surprise 80% plunge in quarterly profit on Saturday as provisions for bad loans increased. Net profit fell to 515.20 million rupees ($6.36 million) for the three months through December from 2.66 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier. Provisions increased to 8.44 billion rupees from 5.82 billion rupees the previous quarter. Yes Bank in December completed the transfer of bad loans worth 480 billion rupees to private equity firm J.C. Bank loans rose nearly 15% in the fortnight to Dec. 30 from a year earlier, outpacing a 9.2% increase in deposits, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India.

☆ Analysis: India's rising home prices, rentals a new inflation threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Housing rentals and ancillary costs have a 10.07% weightage in India's consumer price inflation basket and are near three-year highs, posing a fresh worry for the central bank that had to contend with rising food prices for most of last year. Urban housing inflation rose to 4.47% year-on-year in December 2022, versus 3.61% in the same period a year ago and 3.21% in December 2020, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed. "Core inflation has continued to remain sticky and hence an increase in housing inflation poses a significant risk to the overall inflation outlook," said Aditi Gupta, an economist at Bank of Baroda. While housing prices are not part of the consumer price inflation basket, their effect is captured through construction and raw material prices, and analysts do not expect a slowdown any time soon. Analysts said rising house prices would also feed into higher demand for services like electricity and repairs, ultimately working their way into the overall inflation basket.

☆ HDFC Bank, India's biggest private lender, says net profit jumps 18.5%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Net profit for the quarter was 122.59 billion rupees ($1.51 billion), up from 103.42 billion rupees in the same quarter a year earlier. That was above analysts' forecast of 118.33 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 24.6% to 229.88 billion rupees from 184.44 billion rupees. HDFC's advances for its third fiscal quarter rose 19.5%, retail loans grew 21.4%, commercial and rural banking loans were up 30.2% and other wholesale loans rose 20.3%. Provisions and contingencies fell slightly to 28.06 billion rupees from 29.94 billion rupees last year.

☆ India's current account gap widens to 9-year high
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Swati Bhat | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Dec 29 (Reuters) - India's current account deficit widened in the July-September quarter as high commodity prices and a weak rupee increased the country's trade gap, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Thursday. In absolute terms, the current account deficit (CAD) (INCURA=ECI) was $36.40 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022/23, its highest in more than a decade. The median forecast of 18 economists in a Dec. 5-14 Reuters poll was for a $35.5 billion CAD in the July-September quarter. The RBI said services exports reported growth of 30.2% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, driven by exports of software, business and travel services, while net services receipts increased sequentially and y-o-y. "Slowing global growth entails both merchandise as well as services exports will remain muted," she said.

☆ Indian banks may need to lift deposit rates as credit demand surges - RBI report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While banks have swiftly transmitted the hikes to their lending rates, deposit rates have been laggards for most. To fund this credit growth, banks are mobilising deposits at a faster pace amid tight banking system liquidity in recent weeks. The transmission repo rate increase during May-October to deposit rates is likely to provide a "fillip" to deposit growth rates, the report said. The RBI said it was imperative that banks ensure due diligence and robust credit appraisal to limit credit risk. "The uncertainties characterising fast-changing macroeconomic scenario amidst formidable global headwinds during 2022-23 can pose new challenges to the banking sector," the RBI said.

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