Allahabad Bank aims to raise Rs 2.5-2.7 bn from staff share offer: MD & CEO

The bank is also planning to come out with a qualified institutional placement in the third week of March to raise around Rs 10 bn

City-based Allahabad Bank is aiming to raise Rs 2.5-2.7 billion (Rs 250-270 crore) from the employee share offer which started from January 31, 2018, a top official of the bank has said. 

"We plan to raise between Rs 2.5 billion (Rs 250 crore) and Rs 2.7 billion (Rs 270 crore) as capital from the employee share offer. The bank is giving a 25 per cent discount on pricing at Rs 53.94 per share to the employees," MD and CEO of Allahabad Bank Usha Ananthasubramanian told PTI.

She said that Allahabad Bank was the first among the public sector banks (PSBs) to offer shares to its employees and got the approval of the board, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Finance Ministry.

The offer would remain open for two weeks.

The bank is also planning to come out with a qualified institutional placement (QIP) in the third week of March to raise around Rs 10 billion (Rs 1,000 crore), Subramanian said.

Last month, the RBI had also initiated prompt corrective action (PCA) against the state-run lender over its high bad loans.

High net non-performing assets (NPA) and a negative Return On Assets (ROA) for two years in a row had prompted the action by the central bank.

So far in the current financial year, the bank has raised Rs 7 billion (Rs 700 crore) as capital and also raised some bonds.