By IANS
Jaipur : UCO Bank plans to come out with a Rs.2 billion public offer either by the end of this fiscal or the next financial year.
The bank has recently submitted a capital-restructuring plan to the government, which holds 76 percent of its stake. “We are hopeful that the restructuring plan would be cleared in the next month or two. Once it is cleared, our earning per share (EPS) will go up and our shareholders will get a much better value,” S. K. Goel, chairman and managing director of UCO bank said at a press conference here.
“We are hoping that the government would permit us to convert at least Rs.3 billion into preference capital,” he added.
On the FPO front, Goel said the bank might not require the capital in 2007-08. “We will go for it only after the restructuring process is complete.”
UCO Bank is a leading nationalised bank, with a total business of Rs.1,074.6 billion on Aug 31, 2007, with deposits at Rs.631.60 billion and advances at Rs.443 billion. It has 1,864 branches in the country, two each in Singapore and Hong Kong, and one representative office each in Malaysia and China.
“We have taken several initiatives in recent years, both in the areas of technology and other developmental activities, such as launching of sales teams in 50 centres for door-to-door banking, an accident insurance scheme called the UCO Personal Care Bima Scheme for deposit accountholders in association with Reliance General Insurance Co Ltd, and raising of Rs.5 billion in the form of Hybrid Tier-II bonds to strengthen the bank’s capital requirements and to meet business growth,” Goel said.
The bank is targeting a business of Rs.1,350 billion, with a growth of around 20 percent for fiscal 2007-08.