State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank plans to raise Rs 250 crore through share sale to institutional investors in the third quarter of the current fiscal. “The bank has got approvals for capital raising of Rs 250 crore via Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) in the next quarter,” Punjab & Sind Bank managing director Swarup Kumar Saha told PTI.
It will help achieve the twin objective of capital raising and dilution of the government’s holding in the bank, he said. The Government of India holds a 98.25 per cent stake in the bank which was listed on the stock exchanges in 2010.
He said that the government’s nod is also in place for the capital raising. The bank had written to the Centre seeking its approval for capital raising in May this year. As part of a strategy to increase touch points and brand visibility, Saha said the bank is aiming for 2,000 branches and as many ATMs in the country in the next three years.
The addition of branches would help mobilise low-cost deposits and also increase penetration of loan products, he said. “We are trying to build operational efficiency more so that I can reduce my cost and increase my fee income. We are moving to very granular areas like increasing ATM network, improving digital banking experience,” Saha said.
He said the ATM network can itself be a profit centre because an outside customer pays about Rs 17 per transaction for the use of an ATM. The bank is in the process of upgrading its core banking solution (CBS) which would help the digital journey much better and also bring in efficiency, he said.
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