UCO Bank trims issue size, FPO likely in May

State-owned public sector lender UCO Bank said it has cut own the issue size to six crore shares of its proposed follow-on offer (FPO), expected to hit markets in May.

“We have cut down the shares size now and are going in for only six crore shares issue against the earlier proposed size of 13.5 crore equity,” UCO Bank CMD SK Goel said here.

At the current market price, the bank would be able to raise about Rs 400 crore from the public offer. The board, in its meeting on January 30, decided to issue six crore equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 each at a suitable premium for raising funds.

The bank intends to come out with the public offer in May. Post FPO, the government holding will come down to 58.6% from the existing 70%.Shares of the bank were trading at Rs 56.80, up 1.88% during the afternoon trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Asked about capital infusion, he said, during the month the bank expects to get Rs 500 crore from the government. This would help the bank in raising its capital to risk-weighted asset ratio (CRAR) over 12 per cent, he said, adding that the government would infuse capital in the next fiscal as well. However, as per the supplementary demands of grant tabled in Parliament recently, UCO Bank will get Rs 450 crore during FY10.