Pre Market Analysis: Dalal Street may open lower; Axis Bank, SBI and Airtel in news today

Axis Bank: The private-sector lender has started offering structured derivative products to leading companies including Reliance Industries after a ban on these deals was lifted by the Reserve Bank of India effective Monday, according to Reuters news report. The bank said in a statement that the first of these transactions was executed with Reliance Industries which involved the use of Barrier FX options for their currency risk management. The bank also concluded another transaction with Supreme Petrochem Ltd.

SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank: The RBI said that the three biggest banks of India continue to be Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) or institutions which are ‘too big to fail’. The current update is based on data collected from banks as on March 31, 2021. The Additional Common Equity Tier 1 requirement as a percentage of Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs) in case of SBI is 0.6%, and 0.2% for ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

State Bank of India (SBI): The lender has invested $20 million in payment solutions provider Pine Labs Pvt Ltd, which is likely to be listed in the US. Pine Labs said it will invest the new funds in scaling Plural, its newly launched brand of online payment products, and aims to become an omnichannel partner of choice for merchants.

Meanwhile, SBI has increased the limit on IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) transactions from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The decision was taken to encourage customers towards digital banking. For transactions below Rs 2 lakh at the banks, transaction charges are nil, while for between Rs 2-5 lakh, it is kept at Rs 20 plus the Goods and Service Taxes applicable.

Bharti Airtel: The telecom operator in a stock exchange filing said that it withdrew its plans for a new corporate structure announced in April 2021. It added that its wholly-owned subsidiary Telesonic Networks and Nettle Infrastructure Investments will be merged with Airtel itself. The company will continue with its existing corporate structure and pursue plans to merge DTH operations with Airtel.

Meanwhile, Airtel Payments Bank said it has been categorised as a scheduled bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). With this, Airtel Payments Bank can now pitch for government-issued Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and primary auctions and undertake both central and state government business, besides participating in government-operated welfare schemes, it said in a statement.

Colgate-Palmolive India: The FMCG company said that it was holding talks with its sales representatives in the country after they threatened to disrupt supplies in one of India’s most populous states and alleged that they were being unfairly treated on pricing. The company said in a statement that it will ensure the supply of its products remains uninterrupted in the state.

GAIL (India) Ltd: The state-owned gas utility said that it has completed the acquisition of IL&FS’ 26% stake in ONGC Tripura Power Company. OTPC is a special purpose vehicle set up by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to build a 726.6 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) thermal power plant at Palatana, Tripura. ONGC holds 50 per cent interest in the company.

Coal India Ltd: The company’s CMD Pramod Agrawal has been given additional charge of director (finance), according to an exchange filing. The ministry of coal has entrusted the additional charge of director (finance) to Pramod Agrawal for six months from December 29, 2021 or till the appointment of a regular incumbent.

Bandhan Bank: The lender’s collection efficiency ratio has increased to 93 per cent in December 2021 from 90 per cent in September that year, the company said. There has been substantial growth in loans and deposits during the period, it said. Loans and advances grew 11% YoY to Rs 89,213 crore as on December 31, 2021.

South Indian Bank (SIB): The Kerala-based bank has won the UiPath Automation Excellence Awards 2021 for best automation under crisis for business continuity. The company said that the award was bestowed upon the bank for its exceptional use of robotic process automation capabilities under difficult times for solving severe operational constraints, thereby ensuring business continuity.