SBI sets sights on absorbing State Bank of Mysore

After taking over two associate banks — State Bank of Saurashtra in 2008 and State Bank of Indore in 2010 — State Bank of India has set its sights on assimilating the nearly century old State Bank of Mysore (SBM) this year.

As part of its consolidation strategy, India's largest bank wants to first merge the smaller associate banks before attempting to take over relatively bigger associates such as State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT).

Branch network

“We will take over smaller associate banks first as it is easier to integrate them. We have gained valuable experience through the acquisition and integration of State Bank of Saurashtra and State Bank of Indore,” said a senior bank official.

However, in the case of bigger associate banks, the official observed that the issue is that their branch network in their home State is as big as SBI's branch network in that State. So, the integration will take longer as a branch rationalisation exercise will have to be undertaken.

In the case of SBM, which is listed on the bourses, a swap ratio (whereby SBI will offer its own shares in exchange for SBM's shares to conclude the acquisition) will have to be arrived at for the minority shareholders.

While SBI holds 92.33 per cent stake in SBM, minority shareholders hold the balance stake. The Mysore-headquartered associate bank has over 700 branches.

Share of profit

The five associate banks' share in the consolidated net profit of SBI was higher (33 per cent) in FY 2011, against 25 per cent in FY 2010.

SBI had reported a lower consolidated net profit at Rs 10,865 crore in FY2011, against Rs 11,734 crore in FY2010.

Among the five banks, SBH net profit was the highest at Rs 1,166 crore; followed by SBT (Rs 728 crore), State Bank of Patiala (Rs 653 crore), State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (Rs 551 crore), and SBM (Rs 501 crore).

As on March-end 2011, the State Bank group had a network of 18,266 branches including 4,724 branches of its five associate banks.

SBT launches ‘Green Channel'

The State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has introduced the Green Channel Counter (GCC), an innovative step towards paperless banking.

The Managing Director, Mr P. Nanda Kumaran, launched the facility at the Kowdiar branch here in the presence of Mr S. Balachandran, Chief General Manager. GCC aims at reducing transaction time and does away with pay-in-slips, cheques and challans. Cash deposit, withdrawal and funds transfer are made now available a transaction limit of Rs 40,000. The customer need not fill up forms nor get tokens or stand in queue. A printed receipt will be given to validate the transaction.

The GCC facility can be accessed through a specially designed transaction processing device by swiping the ATM debit card and entering the PIN. SBT intends to extend GCC to other branches in a phased manner.

SBT hikes NRE term deposit rates

State Bank of Travancore has announced a hike in interest rates for NRE deposits with effect from November 25 (Friday last).

As per the revision, interest rate for NRE term deposits for periods one year to less than two years will be 3.69 per cent; two years to less than three years, 3.36 per cent; and three years and above up to five years, 3.52 per cent.

Interest rate for FCNR deposits in US dollars will be 2.19 per cent for a period of one year to less than two years; 1.86 per cent for two years to less than three years; 2.02 per cent for three years to less than four years; 2.30 per cent for four years to less than five years and 2.62 per cent for five years.

For deposits in pound sterling, the corresponding rates will be 3.01 per cent, 2.62 per cent, 2.75 per cent, 2.94 per cent, and 3.14 per cent. The corresponding rates for deposits in euro will be 3.33 per cent, 2.80 per cent, 2.93 per cent, 3.10 per cent and 3.29 per cent.

Interest rate for RFC term deposits for six months to less than one year will be one per cent; one year to less than two years, 2.19 per cent; two years to less than three years, 1.86 per cent; and for three years, 2.02 per cent.

SBT commercial biz group branches

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov. 17: State Bank of Travancore has implemented the new idea of commercial business group (CBG) branches from November 1. This is aimed at boosting the bank's wholesale banking business at selected centres, an official spokesman said here.

Initially, 11 branches located at important emerging business centres of the country are being included in the group. The bank already has a commercial network linking branches in the metros and large cities to cater to the need of big corporates.

CBGs are aside of this, and will take care of the medium and large corporates. They will be self-supported, single-point processing units and would ensure timely disbursal of quality credit.

By bifurcating the wholesale banking business and retail lending at the respective centres, customers of both segments would get focussed attention, the spokesman said.

SBT opens 11 branches on 11-11-11

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov. 14: State Bank of Travancore (SBT) launched 11 new branches in what was sought to be projected as striking a rare numerical formation read with the year, month and date (11 – 11.11.11) of the event.

An official spokesman quoted Mr P. Nanda Kumaran, Managing Director, as announcing the soft launch of the branches on Friday (November 11). Seven of the new branches are in Kerala while the rest are in Tamil Nadu.

The bank is on ‘a branch expansion spree' and would reach a target of 1,000 by March 31, 2012, the spokesman added.

Dhanlaxmi Bank appoints Ramesh Krishnan as Head of Treasury

Kochi, Nov. 3: Dhanlaxmi Bank has announced the appointment of Mr Ramesh Krishnan as Head of Treasury.

Mr Krishnan joins Dhanlaxmi Bank from Bank of Maldives where he was the Chief Credit Officer. He was also the acting CEO of the Dhanlaxmi Bank in Male for a period of nine months.

Announcing the appointment, Mr Manish Kumar, President, HR said: “Mr Krishnan brings with him in-depth knowledge in diverse areas of treasury and risk management ranging from domestic markets to foreign exchanges. His appointment will help the bank in strategically allocating its resources, hedge risks, and enhance trading profits.”

Mr Krishnan is a professional banker and has about 27 years of rich experience in the banking industry. He started his career with State Bank of Travancore before moving to State Bank of Hyderabad. Over the years he has held senior positions in domestic and forex treasury and headed the integrated risk management department of State Bank of Travancore.

Mobile, Internet, e-banking - the way to go

In tune with the times, the Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered State Bank of Travancore is setting great store by mobile and Internet-based banking as well as harnessing the e-platform to executing Government business.

Mr P. Nanda Kumaran, who has taken over Managing Director in recent times, says that the mobile banking services are steadily gaining traction and monthly registrations have touched ‘the five-digit mark' over the last three months, compared to the sub-1,000 levels a month earlier.

More importantly, the value of mobile-based transactions has crossed the Rs 1-crore mark a month during this period.

“We expect Internet banking and mobile banking to grow in a big way in the coming months,” he said in an interview.

“One other real success story has been the e-payment of commercial taxes in Kerala, wherein we are seeing around 60,000 Internet transactions worth Rs 900 to Rs 1,000 crore every month.”

The bank has 900 ATMs of our own, which are part of the 25,000-plus State Bank Group network, touching every nook and corner of the country. ATM transactions are growing at around 18 per cent every year at over Rs 1,500 crore worth of transactions every month.

“Going forward, we expect over half of all transactions would be through self-service channels such as ATM, Internet and mobile banking,” Mr Nanda Kumaran adds.

Excerpts:

Could you spell out a road map for the bank which had broken into the Rs 1 lakh-crore territory in December 2010 itself?

The bank is continuing with the steady growth trend in business, with the total turnover touching Rs 1.1 lakh crore at the end of the latest half year.

As the processes in regard to consummating a Rights issue are already apace, it may not be proper to give a forward guidance at this stage, according to the guidelines of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Public sector banks are looking at new opportunities in areas such as financial inclusion, mobile banking and rural banking. What is the outlook for SBT with respect to each?

We have already fulfilled our financial inclusion target by extending banking services to all our allotted villages in Kerala with one branch having been opened in one of the 29 such villages and Business Correspondent/Business Facilitator (BC/BF) services being rolled out in the remaining 28.

Our mobile banking services are steadily picking traction and monthly registrations are touching the five-digit mark over the last three months, compared to the sub-1,000 levels a month earlier.

More importantly, the value of mobile-based transactions crossed the Rs 1-crore mark a month during this period.

We expect Internet banking and mobile banking to grow in a big way in the coming months.

One real success story has been the e-payment of commercial taxes in Kerala, wherein we are seeing around 60,000 Internet transactions worth Rs 900 to Rs 1,000 crore every month.

Innovative new products and services would be a key differential that would separate nimble-footed and result-oriented banks from laggards. How is SBT measuring up?

SBT has always been in the forefront of bringing in innovative and consumer-friendly products to meet the needs of all segments of customers.

It would not be possible to name all of them. Latest initiatives such as selling gold coins and SBT Gold savings scheme are among such in the large array of our products.

I believe our responsiveness and customer-friendly approach will continue to be the key service differentiator.

Have you been able to reach these products to the customers? What has been the overall response to each?

Definitely. The steady growth achieved over the years is sufficient testimony to the attractiveness and acceptability of our products.

Our extensive network of over 600 branches in Kerala and about 200 outside help us to reach out to a variety of customers and cater to their needs.

What steps does SBT contemplate with regard to emerging challenges on the business environment, especially in IT security and risk management?

SBT has always been in the forefront of implementing technology and modern risk management initiatives.

It was among the first pubic sector banks to implement total computerisation of branches in year 2003 and thereafter migrate fully to a core banking system in 2005.

We also migrated to the Basle II framework, ahead of schedule in March 2008 itself.

I am confident that our bank will not be found wanting in being able to cope with the emerging challenges of Basle III and IFRS etc.

How successful has been SBT's efforts at finding the right mix of assisted and self-service channels aimed at providing the best banking experience to customers?

We have 900 ATMs of our own, which are part of the 25,000-plus State Bank Group network, touching every nook and corner of the country.

ATM transactions are growing at around 18 per cent every year at over Rs 1,500 crore worth of transactions every month. As stated earlier, both Internet and mobile banking transactions are growing even faster now.

Going forward, we expect over half of all transactions would be through self-service channels such as ATM, Internet and mobile banking.

Does SBT intend to further broadbase engagement in three different areas of business enterprise which it has strongly involved in, namely (i) road transport operators (ii) cross-selling and (iii) Government business?

We have a significant portfolio in road transport companies/automobile finance, with tie-ups with all major players for financing customers.

We are corporate agents for SBI Life and Mutual Funds, five other mutual funds, United India Insurance and SBI Cards.

Our income from such cross-selling activities has been steadily growing up every year.

In terms of Government business, we are of course Bankers to the Government of Kerala and a majority of Government transactions are routed through us.

We expect to maintain our dominant position in Government business in Kerala in the years to come, with active support of the Government authorities.

During the next half of the financial year, what will be the bank's strategy on lending to (i) agriculture (ii) SME and MSMEs and (iii) retail loans – housing, car and personal?

As already indicated, I preclude myself from making any forward-looking statements at this point in time. Replies on these areas will have to await another day.

Is there a fresh line of thinking on combating the industry trend of deteriorating asset quality? Would you look at a dedicated mechanism to deal with NPAs?

NPAs are part and parcel of banking business. Exercising effective supervision and control over advances is part of our DNA.

We face greater challenge compared to other banks due to the sheer numbers of our retail portfolio.

One of the new initiatives that we have rolled out is the Asset Tracking Centres (ATCs) where we have a technology that enables outbound calls by our personnel to engage with our borrowers over telephone at their landline/mobile numbers and persuade them to remit their dues in time.

This is beginning to have an impact on improving our recoveries painlessly.

Would you have a new look at the gold loan category, especially after an RBI directive on loans sanctioned to NBFCs for on-lending not eligible for classification under priority lending?

We have traditionally been an active player in gold loans, though volumes have been lower compared to the current times. Our gold loan portfolio is growing at a steady clip now.

We have plans to open exclusive gold loan branches at all district headquarters in Kerala shortly. We expect to carve out a greater share of this segment in the coming months.

We do not have had a sizable exposure to on-lending to NBFCs' gold loans. Hence the RBI directive has had limited impact on us.

SBT H1 net down 18.25% on higher provisions

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct. 20: State Bank of Travancore has posted a negative growth of 18.25 per cent in net profit during the first half of 2011-12 compared to the corresponding year-ago period.

A meeting of the board of directors held here on Thursday took on record the performance of the bank during and up to the end of the second quarter.

HIGHER PROVISIONS

The net profit for the half-year stands at Rs 256.20 crore against Rs 313.40 crore for the half year ended 30th September 2010.

The net profit has been impacted by higher provisions for standard assets as mandated by the Reserve Bank as also because of further slippage of assets.

Gross NPAs stood at 2.84 per cent (2.02 per cent a year ago, adding 40.59 per cent) and net NPAs were at 1.77 per cent (1.17 per cent, up by 51.28 per cent).

But the excess provisioning also helped the bank meet the RBI requirement of achieving 70 per cent Provision Coverage Ratio by March this year.

Meanwhile, operating profit was up 9.06 per cent at of Rs.580.40 crore during the first half of this year against the year-ago position.

MODERATE GROWTH

The growth here too was moderate due to increase in interest expenditure from market-related rates and higher growth in deposits as compared to the growth in advances.

Net operating income has improved by 10.65 per cent to Rs 1,173.12 crore, while net interest income looked up 7.91 per cent to Rs.874.21 crore at the end of the first half year.

Net Interest Margin stood at 2.63 per cent, a trifle less than 2.86 per cent of September 2010.

COST OF DEPOSITS

Total non-interest income increased to Rs 298.91 crore as against Rs 250.02 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year. Higher profits from treasury operations boosted the non-interest income for the period.

The cost of deposits has increased to 6.56 per cent, 101 bps more than a year ago, while yield on advances has also improved by 110 bps to 10.54 per cent.

The Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) stood at 12.18 per cent (under Basel II framework) as against 12.93 per cent a year ago. The regulatory minimum prescribed by the Reserve Bank is 9 per cent.