i-flex, Infosys among top 10 Banking Solutions

Indian companies operating in the banking technology space are seen as a natural choice for banks across the world which wish to adopt advanced technology systems.

In a recent survey conducted by International Banking System (IBS), four Indian companies figure among the top 10 companies worldwide in the banking technology space.

According to the Annual Sales League released by IBS, the four Indian companies are i-flex Solutions (ranked at the top), Infosys (at fifth), InfrasoftTech (eighth) and Nucleus Software (10th).

Meanwhile, another study conducted by the Tower Group, which is an advisory research and consulting firm, points out that technology spending in the global banking industry is well on its way to increase by approximately 4% during the 2005 calendar year. Significantly, almost three-quarters of the spend will take place out of Europe and North America.

"Consumer banking will continue to represent the largest share in technology spending while wholesale banking will experience a steady recovery during the year," said Nasscom research head Sunil Mehta. Flexcube — an internet banking and e-finance platform from i-flex — has been ranked as the world's best universal banking solution for 2002 and 2003 by IBS. "Citigroup accounts for almost 38% of our aggregate revenue. Other top clients include the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, Bharat Overseas Bank, IMF etc," said i-flex Solutions CEO and CFO Deepak Ghaisas. Infosys software product Finacle is used by approximately 84 banks worldwide. 3i Infotech is ranked 18th worldwide for banking technology products. "In fiscal 2004, our suite of banking software solutions contributed to about 8% of our total income," said 3i Infotech managing director and CEO V Srinivasan.

Rights, bonus, splits no more good news for stocks

38 of 45 scrips have declined after such Announcements

The shares of 38 companies, out of a total sample of 45, whose prices got adjusted for either bonus, rights or stock-splits between January and April 2005, have seen their prices decline sharply after the
respective adjustment.

A Business Standard Research Bureau study shows that out of the 45 stocks, 16 have declined between 20 per cent and 50 per cent, while 12 fell between 5 per cent and 20 percent. The scrip price of only seven companies firmed up after the adjustment, while ten scrips declined by
around five per cent each.

The shares of Interworld.com got adjusted for stock-split when the face value was reduced from Rs 10 to Re 1 per share on February 14, 2005. After adjusting for the stock-split, the stock price fell by a
big 50 per cent from ex-split price of Rs 3.35 on February 14, 2005 to Rs 1.70 on April 15.

Likewise, Doctors Biotech India's share price declined by 35.2 percent from ex-split price of Rs 8.50 on January 18 to Rs 5.51 on April 15. The stock was split, from Rs 10 per share to Re 1 per share.

Hitech Gears' shares, adjusted for a 1:1 bonus issue on March 16, has fallen by 27.4 per cent, from Rs 202.65 to Rs 147.05 now.

Similarly, the stock price of Aarti Industries, which gave a liberal bonus in the ratio of 2:1, went down by 27.1 per cent, from Rs 127.65 (ex-bonus) on February 9 to Rs 93.05 on April 15.

ING Vysya Bank's stock price also fell by 27 per cent from ex-rights price of Rs 200.05 on February 21 to Rs 146 now. The bank issued shares in the ratio of 3:1 at a premium of Rs 35 on a rights basis to existing shareholders.

Others in the category include: Karnataka Bank whose stock price has fallen 26 per cent, Ipca Laboratories (22.6 per cent), Vijay Textiles (21 per cent), Matrix Laboratories (17.2 per cent) and Gammon India (15.4 per cent).

The seven companies which bucked the trend include Vyapar Industries, whose shares appreciated 109 per cent after it became ex-bonus, Mercator Lines (ex-split prices up 20 per cent), G V Films (up 12.5 per cent ex-split), Hindustan Sanitaryware (up 5.7 per cent ex-bonus), Prraneta Industries (4 per cent ex-split) and Gujarat NRE Coke (1 per cent ex-bonus).

Source : Business Standard