B U S I N E S S

Exports down in face of low global demand
New Delhi, April 11
Exports declined 3.15% in March, limiting the growth rate for 2013-14 to about 4% and falling short of the annual target by about $13 billion even as the trade deficit improved on shrinking gold imports. According to exporters, outbound shipments were affected by both domestic and global factors.

Maruti recalls over 1 lakh units of Ertiga, Swift, DZire
New Delhi, April 11
In one of the biggest vehicle recalls, Maruti Suzuki India is recalling 1,03,311 units of its popular models — Ertiga, Swift and DZire — manufactured between November 12, 2013 and February 4, 2014 to replace faulty fuel filler neck. The company said the recall will impact 42,481 units of DZire, 47,237 units of Swift and 13,593 units of Ertiga.

Bank of Maharashtra to rejig loan portfolio
Chandigarh, April 11
The Bank of Maharashtra proposes to rejig its advances portfolio by shifting from corporate loans to retail and SME loans and loans to agriculture sector. This diversification is part of the bank’s plan to bring down its high non-performing assets (NPAs) in the corporate sector advances.

Infosys begins search for new CEO
Bangalore, April 11
IT major Infosys today said the nominations committee of the company's Board of Directors has begun the search for a successor to CEO and managing director SD Shibulal.

Exports down in face of low global demand
Trade gap narrows to $138 bn on shrinking gold imports

New Delhi, April 11
Exports declined 3.15% in March, limiting the growth rate for 2013-14 to about 4% and falling short of the annual target by about $13 billion even as the trade deficit improved on shrinking gold imports. According to exporters, outbound shipments were affected by both domestic and global factors.

"Manufacturing is declining. About Rs 20,000 crore is held up with the revenue department as they are not clearing our refunds. It has impacted exports adversely. Global demand situation is also not very healthy," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Rafeeq Ahmed said.

He expressed hope that exports would improve in the coming months.

India's exports grew 3.98% to $312.35 billion in 2013-14, while imports dipped 8.11% to $450.94 billion, narrowing the trade deficit to $138.59 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

A drop in gold and silver imports helped to shrink the trade gap.

In March, exports contracted 3.15% to $29.57 billion and imports fell 2.11% to $40 billion from a year earlier. The trade deficit last month was at $10.5 billion compared with $10.4 billion in March 2013. To boost exports, Ahmed said the government should focus on areas such as services, e-commerce, hi-tech products and branded goods.

"Slowdown in manufacturing, liquidity crunch, currency appreciation, coupled with depreciating currency of few of our trading partners, softening of metal and commodity prices and uncertainty in few regions of the world are the prime reasons for the slowdown," he added.

Industrial output contracts 1.9% in February

After feeble signs of a recovery, industrial production once again slipped into negative territory and contracted 1.9% in February due to poor performance in manufacturing, especially capital goods.

Factory output as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP) showed a decline of 0.1% during the 11-month period from April to February, compared with growth of 0.9% in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Industrial output started to decline in October, when the Index of Industrial Production contracted 1.2%, and continued till December, as per CSO data released on Friday. — PTI

Maruti recalls over 1 lakh units of Ertiga, Swift, DZire

New Delhi, April 11
In one of the biggest vehicle recalls, Maruti Suzuki India is recalling 1,03,311 units of its popular models — Ertiga, Swift and DZire — manufactured between November 12, 2013 and February 4, 2014 to replace faulty fuel filler neck. The company said the recall will impact 42,481 units of DZire, 47,237 units of Swift and 13,593 units of Ertiga.

"This exercise is limited to vehicles within the above specified range and does not pertain to any other vehicle of the company," Maruti Suzuki India said.

Explaining the reasons for the recall, it said in the affected vehicles there is a possibility of fuel smell and in extreme condition there may be some fuel leakage, if filled up to the fuel cap, beyond the 'auto cutoff level'.

"Maruti Suzuki dealers will contact owners of all vehicles in the above mentioned range. The company will replace the fuel filler neck free of cost," it added.

The new fuel filler necks are being dispatched to the dealer workshops.

"Considering the number of vehicles impacted, the company is building up stock of the required component at its dealer workshops, before inviting customers," MSI said. The recall is the company's largest after its recall of about 1 lakh units of its model 'A-Star' in February 2010 to replace a faulty fuel pump part. — PTI

Bank of Maharashtra to rejig loan portfolio
To focus on retail, small units and farm sector to reduce NPAs
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 11
The Bank of Maharashtra proposes to rejig its advances portfolio by shifting from corporate loans to retail and SME loans and loans to agriculture sector. This diversification is part of the bank’s plan to bring down its high non-performing assets (NPAs) in the corporate sector advances.

To begin with, the bank will first look at managing its growth in the corporate and mid-corporate sector. Over the past few years, the bank has been growing at 35% while riding high on the corporate sector advances. The focus now has shifted to having a more realistic growth rate of 18- 20%, by building its advances in the SME and retail sector and curtailing growth in the large and mid-corporate sector.

Sushil Muhnot, chairman and managing director of Bank of Maharashtra, said as of date, 35% of the bank’s total advances of Rs 90,000 crore were to the large and mid-corporate sector. "About 12% loans are in the retail segment and 53% are in the agriculture and SME sector. After initially managing the growth in the corporate sector, we propose to increase our exposure in the retail, SME and agriculture sector," he said.

The bank's NPA in the corporate sector is around 4% (a little more than 4% in the large corporate sector). Comparatively, in the retail sector, the NPA is 1.5% and in SME sector, it is around 5%. "Since the yield on advances in the SME sector is 1- 1.5% higher, it counters the high NPAs. Thus our insistence to increase exposure in the SME sector," explains Muhnot, adding that gradually the bank wants to bring down exposure in the corporate sector by 10%.

Muhnot, who took over as the bank's CMD in November last year, is working on activating the bank's 1,900 branch managers to focus on retail, SME and agriculture loans.

Infosys begins search for new CEO