

IDBI Bank investors disheartened after government fails to find a buyer, cancels stake-sale plan
IDBI Bank’s shares hit a new 52-week low of ₹66.45 on the NSE on Monday and have now lost almost 30% since 13 March after media reports that the central government may scrap its plan to sell a majority stake in the lender.IDBI Bank is classified as a private sector bank even though the government and state-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) together hold a 94.7% stake in it.
The government had initiated the process to sell 60.7%, including LIC’s, along with management control, but the bids were below the reserve price of about ₹110 per share, according to media reports.The cancellation of the stake sale comes as a dampener to the government’s disinvestment efforts, although it may reinitiate the process at a more realistic valuation. Alternatively, the government could reduce its stake by 10-15% through an offer for sale before considering the majority stake sale.
IDBI’s low free float of 5% makes the stock price prone to manipulation, limiting room for fair market valuation. The bank’s financial performance has improved notably in recent years.
Net profit rose 39% year-on-year to ₹7,570 crore in the nine months ended December, after a 44% compounded annual growth rate during FY23-25.Earnings got a boost with higher recovery from non-performing assets, leading to a reversal of provisions. However, operating profit fell 1%, weighed down by lower interest income and higher interest outgo.A scramble for deposits, besides the cut in the repo rate meant pressure on the net interest margin, which fell 112 basis points (bps) to 3.63%.
However, this is still above the 3% that the State Bank of India reported. IDBI’s asset quality improved sharply: the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio fell to 2.57% at the end of Q3
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