State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank plans to raise Rs 3,000 crore from its maiden infrastructure bonds this month as part of its strategy to expand its loan book.
“We’ve received board approval to raise Rs 5,000 crore from infrastructure bonds in tranches, with Rs 3,000 crore targeted in the first tranche,” said Managing Director and CEO Swarup Kumar Saha.
The bond issue, set for the third week of this month, will have a base size of Rs 500 crore, with a greenshoe option of Rs 2,500 crore. The bonds, rated ‘AA’ by domestic agencies, will have a 10-year tenure in line with RBI guidelines and will be listed on the NSE for trading.
The proceeds will be used in the next two quarters. The infrastructure bonds are exempt from CRR and SLR, allowing full deployment of funds for lending activities, which makes them a more attractive option compared to AT-1 and Tier-2 bonds.
For FY24, the bank targets a credit growth of 13-14%. In Q2 FY24, Punjab & Sind Bank reported a 26% rise in net profit to Rs 240 crore, driven by a reduction in bad loans. Total income increased to Rs 3,098 crore from Rs 2,674 crore in Q2 FY23, while interest income rose to Rs 2,739 crore from Rs 2,406 crore. The bank’s asset quality improved, with gross NPAs declining to 4.21% from 6.23% a year ago, and net NPAs easing to 1.46% from 1.88%.
