HCL Tech Q1 net up 50% at Rs 496 cr AGENCIES

 IT firm HCL Technologies (HCLT) today posted a 50 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit to Rs 496.7 crore for the first quarter ended September 30, 2011.

The company's net profit stood at Rs 331.1 crore in the July-September quarter of 2010, HCLT said in a statement.
HCLT follows a July-June fiscal year.
However, on a sequential basis, the company's net profit dipped by 2.7 per cent during the reporting quarter. Its net profit stood at Rs 510.5 crore in Q4, FY'11.
HCLT's revenues stood at Rs 4,651.3 crore during the reporting quarter, up 25.4 per cent from Rs 3,708.1 crore in Q1, FY'11.
"We have doubled our quarterly revenues in just three years to record a billion dollar quarter despite the tough economic environment," HCLT Vice-Chairman and CEO Vineet Nayar said.
The board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share of Rs 2 face value, which includes a 'one-time special milestone dividend' of Rs 2 per equity share of the company.
Under the programme, all employees who are on the company's rolls as of October 14, 2011, will receive a minimum amount equivalent to 5 shares and a maximum amount equivalent to 10 shares based on years of tenure at HCL. The amount they will receive will be based on the closing price of the company's shares on the NSE on October 17.
The company has budgeted an amount of Rs 25 crore for this initiative, the statement said.
"This 'Milestone Share Programme' is a small token of appreciation of our employees who are the reasons for all our success," Nayar said. In July-September, 2008, HCLT had registered quarterly revenues of USD 501 million.
The company's cash and cash-equivalents stood at Rs 469.4 crore as on September 30, 2011.
"While the currency markets continue to be volatile, HCL follows a layered hedging programme to cover its foreign currency exposure," HCLT CFO Anil Chanana said.
During the quarter, the company added 9,311 (gross) and 3,474 (net) employees, taking its total headcount to 80,520 by the end of September 30, 2011.
HCLT signed 12 transformational deals this quarter, including with EMI Group, Norfolk Southern and a leading life sciences organisation.

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No fresh MFI loans in Andhra Pradesh

 Microfinance institutions operating in Andhra Pradesh have stopped making fresh loans due to their mounting non-performing assets, given the limited scope of recovery a year after the state government promulgated an ordinance regulating their activities.

According to state government data, the total loan outstanding of all MFIs stood at Rs 10,386 crore before the Act and as per the latest figures, their loan outstanding now stood at Rs 6,381 crore.
The AP Microfinance Ordinance was implemented on October 15 last year and subsequently made into an Act in the wake of a spate of suicides by borrowers, allegedly due to the coercive recovery practices employed by MFI agents.
Rural Development Principal Secretary Reddy Subramaniam said the state government has achieved its objective of saving people from harassment by MFIs.
While Spandana Sphoorty Financial tops the list of MFIs with outstanding bad loans, with NPAs worth Rs 1,500 crore, SKS Microfinance, the country's only listed MFI, has Rs 1,135 crore worth of defunct assets in the state.
"The state government's objective is to save people from the clutches of MFIs who use coercive methods for recoveries. As far as their outstanding is considered, they came up with a proposal that the interest rate will be reduced, which is a welcome move," Subramaniam said.
He said the MFIs' proposal will be referred to the State-Level Bankers Committee soon. Subramaniam, however, said the government has no role to play in the MFI loan recovery mechanism.
"There was an external political attack on microfinance that culminated into the draconian provisions of a microfinance law passed in Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh MFI Act. The Act has resulted in a slight reduction, up to 5 per cent, in the company's growth," SKS Microfinance Executive Chairman Vikram Akula remarked in the company's annual report.
The MFI Act mandates prior approval of every loan application by the state government authorities.
Fresh disbursals in the state have come to a standstill due to the stringent norms set by the state government. While the MFIs have proposed 73,592 new loans to borrowers, the government has rejected as many as 71,309 applications, citing non-compliance of the MFI Act.
A senior state government official said most of the applications for fresh loans were rejected as they come under the category of multiple lending.
AP accounted for almost 30 per cent of microfinance lending in the country before the new Microfinance Act was implemented in the state. Now, without a visible solution for recoveries, there has been no fresh lending, a senior executive of an MFI said

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IDBI Bank to open 250 branches in 12 months

State-owned IDBI Bank said it plans to open about 250 branches across the country and a branch in Singapore over the next year.

"We will be opening 200-250 branches across various states in next 12 months," IDBI Bank Chairman and Managing Director R M Malla said.

Besides, the bank is also looking at ramping up its international presence, he said.

The bank submitted applications to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for setting up an Offshore Banking Unit there and to the China Banking Regulatory Commission for setting up a representative office at Shanghai, he said.

IDBI Bank hopes to get licence from the Singaporean authorities within the next few months, Malla said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by IMI here.

Currently, the bank has one overseas office. It operates from Dubai (UAE). Domestically, the branch network of the Mumbai-based stood at 930 branches as of September.

The bank opened 107 branches in 2010-11, including specialised corporate branches, taking the total to 815 as on March 31, in addition to an overseas branch at DIFC, Dubai.

Of the domestic branch network, 238 are located in metropolitan centres, 307 in urban centres, 184 in semi-urban centres and 86 in rural centres.

In order to ensure improved operating domain, branches at a few locations were relocated and renovated to provide fresh look and feel, similar to other branches of the bank, he said.

The bank constantly endeavours to expand its branch network to execute its strategy of building sufficiently larger customer base, improved customer service and improved CASA contribution, he said.

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IDBI Bank too joins dual rate bandwagon

More banks have started coming out with dual-rate home loans and other freebies like festival rate discounts in the sluggish home loan market.

After ICICI Bank and HDFC, public sector IDBI Bank on Wednesday said it would give a discount of 25-50 basis points (bps) to prospective floating home loan customers and offer a fully floating rate or a combination of fixed and floating rates during the festive season.

“All new borrowers would be given an option of either fully floating rate or a combination of fixed and floating rates. The processing fee for loan amounts upto Rs 25 lakh has been waived. The bank has also reduced the existing floating home loan rates by 25-50 bps,” IDBI Bank said in a statement.

For home loans up to Rs 25 lakh under the fixed-floating combination scheme, the rate will be 10.75 per cent for one year option and 11 per cent for first two years.

After that period, the floating rate will be 10.75 per cent. For loans between Rs 25 lakh-30 lakh, it will be 11 per cent for one year, 11.25 per cent for two years and floating rate of 11 per cent.

For loans between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 75 lakh, the rates will be 11.25 per cent, 11.50 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

IDBI Bank has also decided to offer concession of 100 bps in rate of interest for all segment of loans as well as 100 per cent waiver of processing fee for auto loans. “All the offers are applicable to the new loans sanctioned between October 15, 2011 to December 31, 2011,” it said.

The ball was set rolling by ICICI which launched home loans with the option of having a fixed rate for either the first year or the first two years. The fixed rate for one year is between 10.5 per cent and 11.5 per cent, depending on the loan amount, and for two years, it is 10.75 per cent to 11.75 per cent.

HDFC also unveiled products with fixed and floating rates — the plans offer fixed rates for the first three (10.75-11.75 per cent) or five years (11.25-11.75 per cent). LIC Housing Finance has come out with a fixed rate of interest for the first five years and on floating rate thereafter, with the interest rate being in the range of 11.15-11.65 per cent.

Axis Bank recently launched a new home loan product offering a lifetime fixed interest rate of 11.75 per cent for 20 years. Under the scheme, the bank will offer home loan to eligible buyers up to 85 per cent of loan-to-value for debt up to Rs 20 lakh and 80 per cent loan-to-value for borrowings above Rs 20 lakh, with a pre-payment charge of 2 per cent of the outstanding amount.

Dena Bank and State Bank of India dropped interest rates on home loans by 25 basis points, while Central Bank of India and Bank of India offered home loans at their base rate of 10.75 per cent.

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