Mumbai, Feb 15: Private sector IndusInd Bank has decided to declare an interim dividend of 12 per cent. The bank has also called for a meeting with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) this week in a desperate bid to pep up the stock price from its current low level. The IndusInd managment will make a presentation to the FIIs to convince them to invest in the scrip.The payment of the interim dividend will translate into an outgo of Rs 19.20 crore. This is the first instance of a company declaring an interim dividend within a month of its shares getting listed on the bourses.
"We have received the clearance of the Reserve Bank of India to make the dividend payout," said a senior official at IndusInd.
"If we can convince the foreign institutional investors into investing in bank shares, it would help the scrip appreciate significantly as we can expect them to pick up at least 5-10 per cent of the total floating stock," said the source.
The IndusInd scrip was listed on the BSE on January 29 at adiscount of 11 per cent to its issue price of Rs 45.
However, during intra-day trades, the stock touched a high of Rs 65. Profit-booking by banks and FIIs which hold more than eight per cent of the bank's equity saw the stock close at Rs 39.50. "Most investors were waiting to sell the scrip once it was listed due to the depressed market conditions. This could be the reason for the fall in the share price of IndusInd Bank", S Solomon Raj, managing director of IndusInd Bank had earlier said. Though Raj said that the scrip would pick up in the next 6-7 days, it only plumetted further. Over the last week, the scrip hit a record low of Rs 33.15. After the bank clocked a 31 per cent growth in its net profit during the first three quarters of the current financial year, the market reacted positively to the announcement of the results.
The IndusInd stock made a smart recovery on the local bourses to close at Rs 34.60 on the National Stock Exchange on last Thursday after the announcement of the result,registering a net gain of 2.67 per cent over the previous day's close of Rs 33.70. The stock opened at a premium of 0.59 per cent at Rs 33.90, touched an intra-day high of Rs 35.75 to finally close at Rs 34.60 with a huge volume of 3.05 lakh shares. The scrip further moved up on Friday to Rs 36.15.
The largest new private sector bank posted a net profit of Rs 76.62 crore in the nine month period ended December 31, 1995 against Rs 58.52 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
