Kolkata-based Uco Bank has received shareholders? approval for a follow on public offer to dilute 6.26% of the government?s stake. The public sector lender will issue 6 crore equity shares at a face value of Rs 10 each.
While sources in the bank said it is planning to come out with the FPO by end of April or early May this year, VK Dhingra, executive director of the bank, said, ?We will go to the market at an opportune time.?
Post FPO, the government?s shareholding in the bank is likely to come down to little more than 57.33% from 63.59% at present. ?We had a provision of allocating 13.5 crore equity shares.
We decided to allocate 6 crore shares at present,? Dhingra said.
The government has 34.93 crore shares in the bank, while total number of shares is around 549.36 crore. Post allotment, shares held by public will rise from 36.4% at present to 42.67%.
Meanwhile, the bank is also expecting Rs 750 crore from the central government by end of this month. Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decided to give Rs 1,200 crore to Uco Bank in two consecutive tranches under its recapitalisation package.
?We are expecting Rs 750 crore from the central government by end of this month,? Dhingra said. Capital adequacy ratio of the bank on December 31, 2009, was 11.45%, a notch below 11.93% during the corresponding period last fiscal. Sources in the bank said it is eyeing a total business of Rs 2,02,000 crore for the fiscal ending March 31, 2010. The bank?s net profit increased by 43.22% to Rs 245.82 crore in the quarter ending December 31, 2009, compared to Rs 171.63 crore registered in the year-ago period.