Bank of Maharashtra to raise Rs 5,000 crore in equity to pare govt stake
Bank of Maharashtra is planning to raise Rs 5,000 crore in equity this year as part of a two-year strategy to pare the government stake to 75% to conform to the market regulation.
The bank said it needs to raise a total of Rs 6,700 crore at current price to bring down the promoter holding below the threshold level.
Managing director Nidhu Saxena said that the bank is awaiting the government approval for this year's equity raising, which would be done through qualified institutional placement or follow-on public offer or both.
«We are planning to bring down the government stake to 75% by the financial year 2025-26,» he said.
The bank has already reduced the holding to 86.46% from 90.97% in FY24.
Securities & Exchange Board of India mandates every listed entity to have a minimum 25% public shareholding. Several banks have breached the minimum public shareholding level following the government's continuous capital infusion in the past few years.
The government had infused about Rs 3.35 lakh crore in public sector banks in the past decade in multiple rounds.
The Pune-headquartered lender is also planning a Rs 10,000 crore in infrastructure bond issue with the first tranche of Rs 2,000-2,500 crore likely this year, Saxena said after announcing a 47% year-on-year jump in net profit at Rs 1,293 crore for the first quarter of the fiscal
Its operating profit for the quarter was 23% higher at Rs 2,294 crore, backed by nearly 20% rise in net interest income at Rs 2,799 crore and 42% growth in non-interest income at Rs
