state bank of india – Page 9

Pandemic lifts home loan demand, rise up to 14% despite restrictions, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 18, 2021 root Personal Finance

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As the pandemic raged, people took to the safety of homes, literally.

Banks home loan portfolios jumped up to 14% in the first quarter despite a rise in Covid cases and restrictions due to the pandemic.

The home loan portfolio of the State Bank of India increased 11 per cent to Rs 5,05,473 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal ended June 30, 2021, compared with ₹4,55,443 crore in the year-ago period. It forms constituting 23 per cent of the bank’s total domestic advances.

Home loans at Canara Bank increased 13.15 per cent during the first quarter to Rs 65,136 crore. In the previous year, the growth in the portfolio was only 10.6 per cent. Punjab National Bank saw a 6.1 per cent growth in home loans.

Rising ticket size

HDFC saw its average loan size jump from Rs 27 lakh to Rs 29.5 lakh during the Covid pandemic as borrowers sought larger homes with many companies shifting to work-from-home mode.

Even as the average property value purchased by borrowers during the pandemic rose, the affordability of loans for borrowers improved to a 25-year high.

The affordability is measured as the number of years of income required to buy a house.

The affordability improved to 3.2 years of income as against 3.3 years in FY20 and 2.5 years in FY19. This was largely because the annual income of borrowers rose from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 16 lakh even as property values remained at FY18 levels. The average age of the borrower also dipped from 39 years to 38 years.

Growing competition

ICICI Home Finance has launched an on-the-spot home loan for workers and self-employed who do not have income tax returns (ITR) to show their earnings.

Under the ”Big Freedom Month”, ICICI Home Finance aims to assist home loan seekers who do not have income tax returns proof to buy their dream home, it said in a statement.

Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, tailors, painters, welders, auto mechanics, and auto taxi drivers, among others, can avail of the spot home loan by submitting PAN card, Aadhaar card and bank account statement of the past six months.

Prospective homebuyers can visit the ICICI HFC branch to get free consultation from experts.

SBI is also focusing on home loans. It announced a 100 per cent waiver on processing fees till August 31. Before the offer, the processing fee was 0.40 per cent.

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ICICI Bank, StanChart, HSBC cut deals in ‘Swaption’ in a first, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 18, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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MUMBAI: Private sector lender ICICI Bank Tuesday cut India’s first set of ‘swaption’ deals with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, heralding a new era of risk management in the country’s interest-rate derivatives market that needs to introduce world-class solutions to draw more overseas funds into local debt assets.

The ‘swaption’ interest-rate derivative product should help both local borrowers and investors to rein in funding costs in a rising rate scenario and retain investment returns in a falling rate scenario. In June, 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued guidelines for ‘swaption’ deals.

A swaption contract gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to enter into an interest-rate swap deal.

Three people familiar with the matter told ET that ICICI Bank and the two overseas lenders transacted ‘swaptions’ on Overnight Index Swap (OIS) for a total notional sum, which formed a significant majority of the total worth of transactions reported on day one. Trading in the instrument began Tuesday on a Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL) platform, which showed six separate deals for a total notional sum of Rs 700 crore.

“These transactions are a welcome step toward managing interest rate risks more effectively,” said B Prasanna, Group Head, Global Markets, Sales, Trading and Research, ICICI Bank. “Issuers who have issued bonds with Put options which get exercised in rising interest rate markets now have a tool that can protect them. These products will help make our debt markets reach global standards, and attract more international debt investors.”

If a borrower raises local bonds with a ‘put’ option, investors could well surrender those papers in a rising rate scenario, forcing a borrower to issue new bonds at higher rates. This is where the utility of the instrument is evident for the borrower.

If the borrower buys a swaption contract, the instrument will protect the borrower against any losses from rate movements in the event of investors exercising their put options.

Similarly, if a borrower raises bonds with call options, and exercises them in a falling interest market, the investor has to invest at lower rates. If s/he buys a swaption contract, it will shield for any rate losses.

“We expect the demand for interest rate swaptions from domestic clients to increase in the short to medium term as the proportion of external benchmark linked lending by banks continues to rise,” said Parul Mittal Sinha, Head – Financial Markets, India Standard Chartered Bank.

HSBC declined to comment on the matter.

The transactions took place at the lenders’ Mumbai offices, sources told ET.

To be sure, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India are the only two banks in India that are traded in the global Credit Default Swap (CDS) market, which has significantly gained traction after the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

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BoM tops PSU banks in terms of loan, saving deposit growth in Q1, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 17, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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New Delhi: State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as the top performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan and savings deposit growth during the first quarter of the current financial year. The Pune-headquartered lender recorded 14.46 per cent increase in gross advances at Rs 1,10,592 lakh crore in April-June period of 2021-22, as per the published data of BoM.

It was followed by Punjab & Sind Bank which posted 10.13 per cent growth in advances with aggregate loans at Rs 67,933 crore at the end of June 2021.

When it came to deposit mobilisation, BoM with nearly 14 per cent growth was a notch behind Punjab and Sind Bank, while the country’s largest lender State Bank of India recorded 8.82 per cent rise.

However, in absolute terms SBI’s deposit base was 21 times higher at Rs 37.20 lakh crore as against Rs 1.74 lakh crore of BoM.

Current Account Savings Account (CASA) for BoM saw 22 per cent rise, the highest among the public sector lenders, during the quarter.

As a result, CASA was 53 per cent or Rs 92,491 crore of the total liability of the bank.

Total business of BoM increased 14.17 per cent to Rs 2.85 lakh crore at the end of June 2021.

For the first quarter, BoM’s standalone net profit more than doubled to Rs 208 crore as against Rs 101 crore in the same period a year ago.

The bank’s asset quality improved significantly as the gross bad loans or gross non-performing assets (NPAs) dipped to 6.35 per cent of gross advances by the end of June 2021 as against 10.93 per cent by the end of first quarter of the previous fiscal.

In absolute terms, gross bad loans stood at Rs 7,022 crore at the end of June 2021, lower than Rs 10,558.53 crore recorded in the same period a year ago.

Net NPAs nearly halved to 2.22 per cent (Rs 2,352.75 crore) from 4.10 per cent (Rs 3,677.39 crore).

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HDFC Bank’s AT1 bonds get Moody’s Ba3 rating, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 17, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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MUMBAI: HDFC Bank‘s proposed Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds have been rated Ba3, three notches below their deposit ratings by Moody’s, with limited likelihood of any rating upgrade in the next 12-18 months due to possible weakness in sovereign rating and the likelihood of rising bad assets in the Indian financial system.

The bank will be the first private sector lender to offer those quasi-equity securities offshore if it finally launches the overseas sale that is expected to open for subscription in the next 7 days.

HDFC Bank will likely set a benchmark for many other local lenders including Union Bank of India, State Bank of India and Axis Bank.

S&P is also expected to come out with a similar rating grade for HDFC Bank’s AT1 series.

The initial guidance is likely to be less than 4 per cent, although it could finally settle anything between 3.5 per cent and 4 per cent, said people familiar with the matter. The size of the issue is expected to be in the range of $500 million to $1 billion depending on investor demand, ET reported on July 29.

“Roadshows have just begun across the world,” one of the persons cited above said.

In between, there were hard negotiations for the pricing particularly after a Thai bank raised AT1 at about 4 per cent two weeks ago.

The borrower is actually looking for 3.5 per cent, which looks tough. Still, there will be good demand for any paper series, branded with the HDFC mark, dealers said.

HDFC Bank and individual investment bankers could not be contacted immediately for comments.

Nearly a dozen banks have been appointed to help the proposed bond sale. Those banks include Barclays, Bank of America, Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, MUFG, Sofgen, BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley.

AT1, also known as perpetual bonds, add to banks’ capital base unlike perpetual papers issued by any corporate. Such securities do not have any fixed maturity but generally have a five-year call option that allows an exit route for investors.

“The Ba3 (hyb) rating is three notches below HDFC Bank’s baa3 Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) and Adjusted BCA, reflecting the probability of impairment associated with non-cumulative coupon suspension, as well as the likelihood of high loss severity when the bank reaches the point of non-viability,” Moody’s said in a report Monday.

The principal and any accrued but unpaid distributions on these capital securities would be written down, partially or in full, if HDFC Bank’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio is at or below 5.5 per cent any time prior to 1 October 2021, and 6.125 per cent from and including 1st October, 2021.

In such a scenario, the write-down may be temporary, and the amount could be reinstated subject to the Reserve Bank of India‘s (RBI) conditions, Moody’s said.

“A lowering of HDFC Bank’s BCA (Baseline Credit Assessment) will lead to a rating downgrade of the proposed AT1 securities,” Moody’s added.

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Citibank granted IFSCA licence to set up banking unit at GIFT City, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 17, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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GIC had set up its international operations in Dubai in 2007 and had been providing reinsurance to the African continent.

Ahmedabad: US-headquartered Citibank NA has received the regulatory approval to open a banking unit at India’s only International Financial Services Centre at Gandhinagar, to carry out offshore transactions, said sources privy to the development.

This has paved the way for the first US bank to set up a branch at the Gujarat Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). “We issued a licence to Citibank on Monday to set up its IFSC banking unit at GIFT,” confirmed Dipesh Shah, development head, International Financial Services Centres Authority, the unified regulator for development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions at IFSCs.

Citibank will service both Indian and global customers from its IFSC branch. The new IFSC unit aims to undertake credit business such as execution of foreign currency loans and external commercial borrowings, working capital loans including trade finance facilities, payment/remittance as well as treasury business including borrowing and deposits, said sources.

Last year, Citibank received in-principle nod from the Reserve Bank of India for the banking unit after which it was awaiting the final nod from IFSCA to start operations.

Recently, Deutsche Bank, a global bank with presence in over 70 countries, became the first German bank to set up its IFSC banking unit at GIFT IFSC. “Global banks are finding the IFSC a great strategic opportunity to serve international clients at a very competitive cost. The IFSC is fast emerging as the preferred gateway for international financial services and is enabling many new business opportunities for global investors,” said Shah.

Leading Indian and foreign banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC, among others are already operating from GIFT IFSC.

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Card issuing banks may be hit if Mastercard ban continues for long, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 16, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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A month after predicting a hit to five private sector banks due to the ban on Mastercard by the Reserve Bank of India, the global brokerage has said that there would be no material impact on the card issuers.

Nomura Global Markets Research says it does not foresee any material impact on card issuers in the near term, especially credit card issuers, but there could be a medium-term impact if this situation persists, according to a report.

What Nomura said

As many as five private sector banks, including Axis Bank, Yes Bank, and IndusInd Bank, are to be impacted by the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to ban Mastercard from issuing new cards for not complying with local data storage guidelines, Nomura had said last month.

HDFC Bank would also have been affected by this decision but the lender is already facing restrictions by the RBI on issuance of new cards (debit, credit or prepaid).

Besides these five banks, Bajaj Finserve and SBI Card may face problems as they were also issuing cards of this payment gateway.

So, in all, as per the report of global brokerage firm Nomura, seven financial institutions would not be able to issue new card as they sourced significant number from Marstercard.

The issuance of new cards through another payment gateway would take 2-3 months because it involves technology integration and other modalities, it had said.

“Among credit card issuers including co-brand partners, RBL Bank, Yes Bank and Bajaj Finserv lending are most impacted, in our view, as their entire card schemes are allied with Mastercard,” the report said.

As per the report, RBL Bank, Yes Bank and Bajaj Finserv were fully dependent on Mastercard for card issuance while dependence of IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank varied from 35 per cent to 40 per cent.

Card-issuing arm of State Bank of India, SBI Card, has only 10 per cent of their card tied up to the banned Mastercard. On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank”s card portfolio is entirely allied to Visa and hence won”t face any issues.

After the development, RBL Bank had entered into an agreement with Visa Worldwide to start issuance of credit cards on the Visa platform. The bank will be able to issue the new cards after technology integration which is expected to take 8-10 weeks.

The RBI action

The RBI barred Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd from on-boarding new customers across all its card products (debit, credit and prepaid) from July 22, 2021, as it failed to comply with data storage norms.

Taking action against Mastercard, the RBI said, “Notwithstanding lapse of considerable time and adequate opportunities being given, the entity has been found to be non-compliant with the directions on Storage of Payment System Data.”

However, the RBI’s directions will not impact existing customers of Mastercard.

Mastercard became the third major Payment System Operator on which restrictions have been imposed for non-compliance with RBI”s direction on Storage of Payment System Data.

Earlier, the RBI had restricted American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International Ltd from onboarding new domestic customers on to their card networks from May 1 for violating data storage norms.

Mastercard is a payment system operator authorised to operate a card network in the country under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).

In terms of the RBI’s circular on Storage of Payment System Data on April 6, 2018, all system providers were directed to ensure that within a period of six months the entire data relating to payment systems is stored only in India.

They were also required to report compliance to the RBI and submit a board-approved system audit report conducted by a CERT-In-empanelled auditor within specified timelines.

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Bankers hopeful of a revival in corporate loan growth as economy opens up, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 15, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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Bank credit to industry remains muted, falling 1.7% in the year to date, with companies slashing debt and harnessing existing capacities in a demand environment made uncertain by the pandemic. But bankers expect a revival in corporate loan growth as the economy opens up, making a strong business case for capital expenditure.

Chunky industrial loans, which make up about 30% of non-food credit, have witnessed lukewarm demand so far in 2021, latest central bank data showed, underscoring a trend among companies to conserve cash, deleverage as much as possible, and leave under-utilised the respective loan limits sanctioned by lenders. Retail credit demand has expanded, however, through the period of episodic lockdowns and curbs on mobility.

Both analysts and bankers believe credit demand will now pick up as companies invest for the next cycle of growth. In a report published earlier this month, Japanese investment bank Nomura said growing optimism and abundant liquidity should boost loan demand.

“Banks expect an across-the-board improvement in demand through Q1 2022, with optimism levels the highest for retail loans, followed by manufacturing and services, while infrastructure loan demand lags,” Nomura said. “The simultaneous rise in loan demand and easing of loan supply conditions suggest that credit growth should eventually pick up.”

An uncertain business environment led to muted credit demand from traditionally asset-heavy industries, such as industrial metals, metal products, iron and steel, construction and cement. Instead of adding more debt to their balance sheets, several companies in these sectors sought to deleverage, harnessing cash flows to improve their debt profiles.

Incidentally, better profiles should now encourage many companies to add debt as expansion capital.

“We believe India Inc, after undergoing a phase of deleveraging over the past few years, is now better positioned … (for) re-leveraging. Indian financiers, too, have saddled themselves with ample liquidity or capital buffers to tap the emerging opportunity,” ICICI Securities said in a note. “Recovery in economic activity and the derivative effect of increased investments and corporate/government spending on consumption will sustain the momentum of 15%-plus growth over FY22-FY25.”

To be sure, cheaper rates in the local and overseas bond markets meant that companies looked to those sources for their short- and medium-term funding needs instead of banks.

Bankers believe that as companies embark on large projects, loan demand will rebound. For instance, Bank of Baroda reported a year-on-year fall of 10% in corporate loans as it shed low-yielding advances in the first quarter. But CEO Sanjiv Chadha said he expects loan growth to pick up this year, helping the bank expand its loan book by 7% to 10%. That would include a 5% to 7% expansion in corporate loans.

“Retail loans will still grow faster than corporate loans but we are seeing an uptick in demand from road projects, city gas projects and renewable energy projects, which will help the demand for loans,” Chadha said during the bank’s first-quarter earnings call.

Retail loans have expanded 12% on-year, helped by a low base and paced by demand for homes and vehicles. Credit card spending fell.

Home loans expanded 10% and vehicle loans 11% despite the lockdowns through April and May. But outstanding credit card loans fell 12% year-on-year as consumer sentiment was hit by localised lockdowns.

State Bank of India (SBI), which reported a 2.3% fall in corporate loans, also expects the situation to improve this fiscal. Chairman Dinesh Khara said he expects demand from companies to improve, boosting its loan margins, as both individual and industrial borrowers add more loans.

To be sure, demand from industry is crucial to prop up overall credit growth.

“We believe industry growth will have to emerge as a key driver to boost credit growth in coming years. While it may happen with some lag, revival in consumer demand and rise in government spending can be the potential triggers,” ICICI Securities said.

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Bank of Maharashtra tops PSU lenders chart in terms of loan, saving deposit growth in Q1, BFSI News, ET BFSI

August 15, 2021 root Banking & Finance

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State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as the top performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan and savings deposit growth during the first quarter of the current financial year.

The Pune-headquartered lender recorded 14.46 per cent increase in gross advances at Rs 1,10,592 lakh crore in April-June period of 2021-22, as per the published data of BoM.