State Bank of Mysore is to raise Rs.70-80 crore by way of private placement of equity to mutual funds, insurance companies and other bodies approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said its Managing Director Sharad Sharma on Tuesday. Addressing the media, Mr. Sharma said equity stake to the extent of 2.33 per cent of the bank’s capital base would be divested before the end of the current financial year. “Formal approval of the board is likely next week,” he said.
Mr. Sharma said the bank also planned to raise Rs.600-700 crore via a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) or a rights issue to bolster the capital base to meet the Basle-III norms. “This is likely to happen in the first-half of 2013-14,” he said.
Q3 profit up 40 %
During the third quarter, the bank made a net profit of Rs.155 crore, 40 per cent higher than a year earlier. Net interest income rose 11 per cent, amounting to Rs.461 crore. Observing that advances grew by 16 per cent during the quarter, Mr. Sharma said, “Our experience has been different from other banks, which have complained of poor credit offtake.” He said the overhang of non-performing assets, which had increased significantly since 2011, “has been brought under control.” Gross NPAs declined from 4.67 per cent in the first quarter of 2012-13 to 3.99 per cent during the third quarter, he said.
