ICICI Bank's exposure to Ocean Tankers is likely to turn bad

ICICI Bank has issued notices to impound two vessels operated by Ocean Tankers, a unit of the troubled Singapore oil-trading company Hin Leong Trading.

ICICI Bank, which has about $100 million exposure to HLT, has issued writs against the vessels Wu Yi San and Chang Bai San.

According to S&P Global Platts, a provider of energy and commodities information, Hin Leong Trading's founder Lim Oon Kuin has been blamed for financial mismanagement and reselling of inventory that was used as banking collateral, causing losses running into billions of dollars, in a court filing by his son Lim Chee Meng. Hin Leong has suffered $800 million in unaccounted derivatives losses .

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Brickwork : Moratorium provisions to hurt banks profitability

Brickwork Rating estimates that 10 per cent provisioning on loans granted moratorium could hit profitability by up to Rs 72,000 cr.

The Reserve Bank of India stipulation that banks maintain higher provision of 10 per cent over the two quarters of March and June 2020 on loans that have been granted a three-month moratorium could drill a huge hole, ranging from Rs 36,000 crore to Rs 72,000 crore, in their profitability, Brickwork Ratings has cautioned.

Neighboring nations FDI : govt tightens norms

In a major change in its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, India has brought in stricter measures to curb the 'opportunistic takeover' of Indian companies due to the current Covid-19 pandemic by firms in neighbouring countries, including China.

According to the Press Note 3 issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the government has said that an entity of a country which shares a land border with India can invest only after receiving government approval.

Recently China's Central Bank has purchased one percent stake in housing major HDFC through open market operations.

NBFCs seek additional liquidity

Non-bank lenders have sought additional liquidity support of Rs 2 lakh crore through a special central bank mechanism after April cash-flows were choked.

The support has been sought either through the TLTRO mechanism, the proceeds of which banks must use to buy bonds of corporate or non-bank lenders or some kind of refinancing window. 

HDFC Bank posts 18% increase in net, provisions doubles

HDFC Bank has reported 18 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 6,928 crore, for the March quarter. 

Net interest income for the quarter climbed to Rs 15,204 crore from Rs 13,089 crore, driven by 21 per cent growth in advances and a 24 per cent growth in deposits.

 The bank's provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 3,785 crore in March quarter compared with Rs 1,899 crore in the same quarter last year.

Goldman Sachs buys Indusind Bank shares

Goldman Sachs Singapore has picked up shares worth over Rs 176 crore in IndusInd Bank, through an open market transaction, on Wednesday.

According to the bulk deal data on the exchanges, Goldman Sachs bought 14 lakh shares, at an average price of Rs 430.3 apiece.

Recently IndusInd Bank's promoters had indicated that they will hike their stake in the private sector lender by buying extra shares from the market.

The promoters of the bank —IndusInd International Holdings and IndusInd — plan to acquire additional shares from open market in India.

The stock closed at Rs 426 in yesterday's trade. NSE had a volume of 2.83 Cr shares with 31 percent delivery.

The stock is likely to spurt in today's trade.

Bank credit grows at 6.14 percent, slowest since 1962

Bank credit growth decelerated to an over five-decade low of 6.14 percent in the fiscal ended March 31, 2020, amid a faltering economy, lower demand and risk aversion among banks, according to RBI.

Bank advances growth in FY20 was the slowest since the fiscal ended March 1962, when loans had grown by 5.38 percent.

In the week ended March 27, 2020, advances stood at Rs 103.71 lakh crore as against Rs 97.71 lakh crore as on March 29, 2019, according to Reserve Bank data

FIEO : 15 millions may lose jobs

About 15 million people face job losses in India's exports sector following cancellation of over half of the orders and gloomy forecast for global trade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, exporters' body FIEO says.

Seeking immediate announcement of a relief package for exports, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President says a fine balancing is required between life and livelihood, as opting for only one can be disastrous for the country.

IMF ropes in Raghuram Rajan

IMF has named former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and 11 others to her external advisory group to provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues, including responses to the exceptional challenges the world now faces due to the corona-virus pandemic.

Rajan, who was the Reserve Bank of India governor for three years until September 2016, is currently working as a professor at the prestigious University of Chicago.

HDFC BANK FARES BETTER THAN EXPECTED

India’s largest private lender HDFC BANK informed the exchanges today that its advances grew 6.3 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 9,93,000 crore while deposits rose 7.4 percent over the previous quarter to Rs 11,46,500 crore. On an annual basis, advances rose to a four-quarter high of 21 percent, while deposits grew 24 percent—the third consecutive quarter when the metric registered growth over 20 percent.

The bank’s CASA (current and savings account) ratio rose to 42 percent from 39.5 percent in the previous quarter and 42.4 percent a year ago.

FPI holdings raised

National Securities Depository  and Central Depository Services  revised Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) limits for all listed stocks on Indian bourses.

With this move, FPI limit in certain stocks has gone up to 100 per cent. The move is likely to increase India’s weight-age in MSCI and FTSE global indices.

The effective date is 01-04-2020.

India to get emergency funding from World Bank

 World Bank has approved $1-billion emergency financing for India to tackle the corona virus outbreak, which has claimed 53 lives and infected 2,500 others in the country.

The World Bank's first set of aid projects, amounting to $1.9 billion, will assist 25 countries, and new operations are moving forward in over 40 nations using the fast-track process, the bank said.

The largest chunk of the emergency financial assistance has gone to India -- $1 billion.