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Now, Airtel to acquire Telecom Seychelles
Hackers rob thousands of bank accounts in Britain
Discussion paper on banking licences out |
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Punjab & Sind Bank ups rates
Canara Bank BPLR rises by .50 pc
Hike in Hyundai car prices likely
IRDA not to tweak Ulip norms
Paint companies set to hike price again
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Now, Airtel to acquire Telecom Seychelles
New Delhi, August 11 Bharti Airtel chief executive officer (international) Manoj Kohli said “Telecom Seychelles has world-class operations that include the state-of-the-art 3G services. These operations will benefit further by leveraging the efficiencies of our African operations”. The acquisition of Telecom Seychelles will be the company's second major deal in the recent times after the acquisition of Zain Telecom's African assets for $10.7 billion. Bharti Airtel will thus expand its African footprint to 16 countries, taking its overall presence in 19 countries. The company earlier had taken a majority stake in Bangladesh's Warid Telecom. It also has operations in Sri Lanka. Telecom Seychelles, which began operations in 1998, has over 57 per cent share of the island's mobile market. It offers 3G mobile and integrated wireline services across the country.
Profit falls 32 pc
New Delhi: In an apparent effect of its overseas acquisitions and the strong bidding for the third generation 3G spectrum, Bharti Airtel today reported a 32 per cent fall in its net profit for the quarter ended June 30, over the corresponding period last year.
Airtel had in June acquired the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom operator Zain for $10.7 billion. It became the fifth-largest mobile operator of the world by subscribers after acquiring the African operations from Zain. Just before that it bid strongly to acquire the 3G spectrum licence in the country’s 12 circles for over Rs 1200
crore. Announcing its consolidated results, the company said it had posted a net profit of Rs1,682 crore for the April-June quarter, compared to Rs 2,475 crore for the like period of last year. The total revenue of the company, however, increased 17 per cent to Rs 12,231 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 10,414 crore. The results include 23 days of operations of its African assets. "The first quarter witnessed the successful completion of the acquisition of Zain’s mobile operations in 15 African countries," group chairman Sunil Mittal said in a statement. "Our business in India and South Asia got off to a solid start with robust revenue growth and healthy margins. This reaffirms our conviction that leaders emerge stronger in a hyper-competitive market."
— TNS |
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Hackers rob thousands of bank accounts in Britain
London, August 11 Internet security firm M86 Security, which discovered the scam, said the hackers stole 675,000 pounds from the unnamed British bank. "We've never seen such a sophisticated and dangerous threat. Always check your balance and have a good idea of what it is," the security firm said. The latest virus is a variant of the Zeus trojan banking virus which first emerged three years ago and is called Zeus v3. According to researchers at M86 Security, the virus attacked the systems when victims were browsing the Net. It swiped the online banking ID of the customer and hijacked their online banking accounts. The malware was designed to attack only those accounts, which had substantial balances, it said. Bradley Anstis, M86 vice-president of technology strategy, said: "This is an extremely sophisticated version of the virus and it cannot be detected by traditional security software." The company said it was the most-sophisticated and dangerous virus yet seen and advised online banking users to check their balances regularly and have a good idea of what it should be. Meanwhile, British high street banks do not believe they have become victims of the cyber criminals. A spokesman for HSBC said: "There are millions of viruses and other malicious software. We urge people to take basic measure to protect themselves from virus attacks. "Any customer who is a victim of fraud will be reimbursed by HSBC." However, M86 said it believed that one high-street bank was breached and failed to act quickly after warnings last month. More than 100,000 PCs in Britain have been infected with other forms of the trojan virus. According to Financial Fraud Action UK, about 59.7 million pound was lost to online banking fraud last year. Another 440 million pounds was lost to credit card fraud. And the problem is said to be on the rise, with criminals attacking banks' customers rather than the banks themselves as they are seen as softer targets, it said.
— PTI |
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Discussion paper on banking licences out
Mumbai, August 11 Financial services provider Religare Enterprises led the gains and soared 13.8 per cent to hit a year high of Rs 472.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company is among the entities like Reliance Capital, IndiaBulls, IL&FS, IDFC, IFCI and Aditya Birla Nuvo that are reported to be mulling entering the banking space. Bajaj Auto Finance jumped 3.2 per cent to touch a year high of Rs 622.50, while Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital climbed 4.7 per cent to Rs 795. Domestic financial institutions IFCI and IDFC also witnessed an upsurge of 5 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively. “The market sentiment went up after the RBI's proposal. Banking licence will be a sure shot way of making money. There will be a lot of wealth creation as it will be like the RBI distributing gold to the contenders,” SMC Capitals equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said. Aditya Birla Nuvo, which is a Birla group firm with a strong presence in financial services, rose 1.38 per cent to Rs 818. Bajaj Auto Finance jumped 3.2 per cent to touch a year high of Rs 622.50. As per market information, these players have firmed plans to enter the banking sector after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee mentioned in the Union Budget 2010-11 that fresh licences would be issued to private firms and the NBFCs. The RBI today released a discussion paper on giving new banking licences and formulating regulations for the same to foster greater competition. “The RBI is considering providing licences to a limited number of new banks. A larger number of banks would foster greater competition, and thereby reduce costs and improve the quality of service,” Central Bank said. The RBI also sought to know “whether industrial and business houses could be allowed to promote banks.” And, should the NBFCs be allowed to convert into or promote banks. Central Bank has sought feedback on this as also business model for the new banks by September 30. — PTI
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Punjab & Sind Bank ups rates
New Delhi, August 11 The new rates will be effective from August 4, the bank said in a release. The new deposit rates range from 2.50 per cent to 7.50 per cent on the FDs of seven days to 10 years' tenor, said a bank official. Punjab and Sind Bank's decision to hike deposit rates follows similar steps taken by leading banks like ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Oriental Bank and HDFC Bank. While raising the rates, Punjab and Sind Bank said it had decided to provide special rates of 7.25 per cent per annum and 7.50 per cent per annum for fixed maturities of 500 and 1,000 days' tenor. “Senior citizens will continue getting additional benefit of 50 basis points, as hitherto,” the bank added.
— PTI |
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Canara Bank BPLR rises by .50 pc
Bangalore, August 11 The revised interest rates are, however, not applicable to the loans and advances granted after July 1, 2010, and to those borrowers, who have opted to switch over to base rate system, a release said. The upward revision in interest rates is also applicable to the borrowers under micro, small and medium enterprises, existing housing loans linked to BPLR and personal loan schemes. Allahabad Bank
Chandigarh: Allahabad Bank has increased its BPLR by 50 basis points from 12 per cent to 12.50 per cent with effect from August 16. The revised rates will be applicable to only those borrowers who are continuing with the BPLR system.
— PTI/TNS |
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Hike in Hyundai car prices likely
New Delhi, August 11 Last week, Maruti Suzuki India had raised the prices of its various models, except Alto, by up to Rs 7,500 citing a sharp increase in input costs with immediate effect. Prices of raw materials such as tyres are increasing gradually due to hardening of natural rubber rates. Steel prices have also put additional pressure on the original equipment manufacturers. "The (rising) input costs are putting pressure on us... We are discussing internally how to handle the situation," Saxena added. Apollo Tyres has raised the rates by over 10 per cent and considering another price hike in the near future. — PTI
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New Delhi, August 11 "We have considered all that (the proposed guideline) and we do not see any need for vary from the regulations already there. We will have to balance the profits of insurance companies with what is right and proper," IRDA chairman J Hari Narayan told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event here. The regulator, in June, had come up with new guidelines for Ulips under which the investments would be locked-in for five years, up from three years now. Also, the agents' commission would be reduced and even if investors opt out earlier, the discontinuance charges would be lower than they were before. Insurance companies are of the opinion that the capping of surrender charges and the even distribution of charges over the lock-in period of five years will adversely impact the profitability of companies. When asked whether the profitability of the insurers would be impacted, he said, "I do not think that the performance will be significantly impacted in this fiscal or next fiscal." He said the insurance companies would have to contain expenses to maintain revenue in the long run. — PTI To follow HC orders on cashless facility
IRDA today said it would follow the Delhi High Court's direction to take steps on resuming cashless facility to policyholders provided by four PSU general insurers. "Now that the HC has given direction, we will follow that," IRDA chairman told reporters. Yesterday, the Delhi High Court had asked IRDA to make some arrangement to provide cashless facilities to policyholders, amid the suspension of cashless treatment facility at several big hospitals by four public sector general insurers --New India Assurance, United India Insurance, National Insurance and Oriental Insurance.
— PTI |
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Paint companies set to hike price again
Chandigarh, August 11 Asian Paints, Berger, Kansai Nerolac and Nippon Paints have increased the price of their emulsions and enamels by seven per cent since May this year. The average price of emulsions has increased from Rs 130 a litre to Rs 151 per litre. With the next price hike expected shortly, the emulsion price could go up to Rs 155-Rs 160 per litre. The paint majors had raised prices by four per cent in May and by three per cent last month. The companies are believed to be contemplating yet another increase in the next few months. Sources in the industry say that the increase in product prices has been driven primarily by high input costs, mainly titanium dioxide. Since the cost of raw materials accounts for 60 per cent of the cost of production, it has a direct impact on the price of paints. Ramakanth V Akula, president, Nippon Paints, said since there was a severe shortage of Titanium dioxide, as a very limited quantity was manufactured in Kerala. “Most of this is imported and the cost of this has increased by almost two times in the past few months,” he said. The company has just launched its operations in Punjab and plans to retail its emulsions in the state. The sources in the paint industry say that demand for Titanium Dioxide has been growing internationally, but the supply has not been growing as fast. This is mainly responsible for the hike in paint prices. Other inputs into the making of paints like vegetable oils and monomers (used to make emulsions) have also gone up in the recent times. Besides, the hike in diesel prices has increased the cost of transportation, thus adding to the high input costs for paint manufacturers. Thus, the industry is now not just looking at increasing the production of Titanium Dioxide, but also looking at its alternatives. Akula said the industry was pursuing Calcium Carbonate as an alternative to be used in paints.
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New Delhi, August 11
Mumbai, August 11
The scam was carried out by using a computer virus — described by experts as the most dangerous malware programme ever created — that emptied the bank accounts while showing customers fake statements, the Daily Mail reported.