The Hindu Business Line : Centurion's public issue likely in Q3

CENTURION Bank expects its proposed Rs 65-crore rights-cum-public issue to hit the market by the third quarter of the current financial year, the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr V. Janakiraman, said.

Post-issue, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank is likely to be 10 per cent, he added. However, he did not detail current figures citing regulatory restrictions.

The recapitalisation plan for the bank was currently proceeding as per schedule, he said. The merger of Bank Muscat and Centurion will take effect as soon as the Goa Bench of the Mumbai High Court approves of it, he added.

The bank, which has a gross non-performing asset base close to Rs 240 crore and net non-performing asset of Rs 110 crore, expects to report operational profit for its fourth quarter of the last fiscal, Mr Janakiraman said.

Mr Janakiraman ruled out the possibility of a share buy-back post merger. It can be recalled that the bank has proposed to reduce its existing share capital to Rs 15.24 crore from Rs 152.47 crore by shrinking the face value of existing shares from Rs 10 per share to Re 1 per share. The bank will issue shares to Sabre Group of Investors and existing foreign shareholders such as ADB and Keppel at Rs 4 per share, including a premium of Rs 3 per share. The proposed Rs 65-crore public-cum-rights issue of the bank will also be at Rs 4 per share.

Existing shareholders such as Keppel and ADB will participate in the recapitalisation exercise, but IFC is "still examining" the issue, Mr Janakiraman said. However, he ruled the possibility of IFC exiting the bank.

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