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Our Bureau

Mangalore , July 15

THE Chairman and CEO of Karnataka Bank, Mr Anantakrishna, has categorically refuted any corporate house accumulating the shares of the bank.

Replying to queries of the shareholders at the 81st AGM in Mangalore on Friday, he said: "We have come to know about such rumours. But we deny them."

Shareholders were asking questions based on some of the media reports that Mr Anil Ambani was accumulating shares of the bank.

Mr Anantakrishna said that in the past 10 days - from July 4 to July 14 - a considerable amount of shares had been sold and purchased in the market.

On a particular day, 2.81 crore shares were traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. But only 41 lakh shares were delivered. "In the last 10 days, 10 crore shares were traded. Of the 12.1 crore shares of the bank, only nine crore are in demat format. That means some of the shares were traded again. Only 1.48 crore shares were delivered during the 10-day period," he said.

"However, we can't keep our eyes closed. The bank and its governing body are conscious of the developments. We will make all efforts to retain the bank as it is."

If a company or a person wants to buy five per cent or more shares, the party concerned has to take permission from the Reserve Bank of India.

To a query on the lack of a promoter group in the bank, he said that it is one of the bank's strengths.

Individual shareholders hold 84 per cent of shares of the bank. Mutual funds hold 5.33 per cent, insurance companies and banks 1.7 per cent, and FIIs 9.56 per cent.

Earlier, addressing the AGM, Mr Anantakrishna said that the market capital of the bank at on March 31, 2005 stood at Rs 858 core. Currently, the market capital is around Rs 1,400 crore, he added.

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