Banking

Gelli steps down as GTB chief
GLOBAL Trust Bank (GTB) chairman Ramesh Gelli steps down after seven years as the bank’s chairman and managing director. Dr Jayanta Madhab, a promoter of the bank, is tipped to take over as non-executive chairman as the bank is also splitting the post into two.

Mr Gelli requested the board to allow him to step down and to appoint independent professionals in both the positions. A statement on behalf of the bank said that Mr Gelli took this step to ‘‘bring in a freshness in approach and seize the opportunities for new growth.’’

Mr Gelli is likely to spearhead the bank’s new initiatives in the future, the statement said. GTB is proposing a foray into the insurance sector on its own, after its abortive bid to merge with UTI Bank. The merger fell through after the controversy over the bank’s links with Ketan Parekh broke out.

Dr Madhab, a promoter of GTB, is also the chairman of North Eastern Development Financial Corporation and was a director of the Asian Development Bank, Manila.

InfoTech

Infosys net up 118 per cent at Rs 623 cr
THE slowdown in the US has finally cast its shadow on the Indian infotech sector with the mascot of the country’s new economy revolution Infosys Technology projecting a 30 per cent business growth for the current fiscal compared to the over 100 per cent growth registered in previous years.

The company’s total turnover for the year 2000-01 touched Rs 1,959.94 crore, registering an increase of 112.70 per cent over the previous year’s turnover of Rs 921.46 crore.

Infosys posted net profit of Rs 181.68 crore for the quarter ended March 31 2001, which represents a growth of 94.48 per cent over the corresponding quarter in the previous year and a growth of 9.23 per cent over the third quarter of 2001. The net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2000, stood at Rs 166.33 crore.

For the whole year, the net profit from ordinary activities was Rs 623.32 crore, an increase of 117.98 per cent over the corresponding amount of Rs 285.95 crore in the previous year. Net earnings per share increased to Rs 95.06 from Rs 44.38 in the previous year.

Outlook for the quarter ending June 30, 2001 projects an income between Rs 580 and Rs 590 crore. The earning per share is expected to be between Rs 27 and Rs 28 for the first quarter while, for the whole year, the projected figure is expected to be between Rs 118 and Rs 121 per share.

Rupee

Sensex hits 2-yr low, rupee down 14p
THE financial markets on Wednesday went into a tailspin with the BSE Sensex touching a new two-year low to 3298.12 points even as the rupee weakened by 14 paise against dollar to close at 46.69/70.

The selling pressure was led by index heavyweights Infosys Technologies, Zee Telefilms and Satyam Computers in the wake of slowdown in the profits for software companies and ongoing crisis relating to Ketan Parekh.

In the forex market the rupee, opening the day at 46.57/58 from its previous close of 46.55/56, weakened due to the shift in the spot-date to Monday, and RBI’s dollar-interest. There was dollar-demand from corporates and financial institutions. Foreign funds were seen covering their short-dollar positions after the World Bank cautioned about a possible slowdown in India’s software exports owing to the global depression. Sentiment at the forex market was also bearish as the Sensex slipped by 133 points at the BSE.

Obituary

Nasscom chief Dewang Mehta dead
HIGH-profile Nasscom president Dewang Mehta was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney on April 12. Postmortem reports confirm that he died of a heart failure.

Mr Mehta, who was part of a delegation of information technology experts led by IT minister Pramod Mahajan, was slated to catch the morning flight for home but was found dead by some hotel staff when they went to look for him in his room after being told that he had missed the flight, Indian high commissioner R S Rathore said.
Mr Mehta, a qualified chartered accountant and cost management accountant from the UK, was heading the Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service Companies), the apex body of software and service companies in India.

In May 1998, he was appointed as a member and spokesman of the high-power IT task force set up by the prime minister to draft a national informatics policy.

Mr Mahajan expressed shock over the death of 40-year-old Mehta who he said had worked very hard for the IT sector.

Mr Mahajan, who is leading an IT delegation to Australia, said that he along with the Indian high commissioner and his personal secretary had left the hotel they were staying in around 0900 hrs.

“We returned at 1730 hrs. The hotel management informed the high commissioner that as he was supposed to check out at 1130 hrs and as he did not, the hotel staff forcefully opened the door at 1700 hrs and found him dead,” he said.

Mr Mahajan said it was the most shocking news he has got in the recent times.

“We were together till 2215 hrs yesterday at the United India Association dinner. After that he went away with his cousin. The hotel staff told us that he had come in around midnight. We had asked him to come with us this morning but he had said he would like to go back to India,” the minister said.

Mehta’s body was flown to India late on Saturday.