The Hindu Business Line : Shareholders okay Syndicate Bank’s QIP issue proposal

Manipal, June 23 The ninth annual general meeting of Syndicate Bank has given its approval for the qualified institutional placement (QIP) of eight crore equity shares at an appropriate time.

Speaking at the AGM here on Monday, Mr George Joseph, Executive Director, said that the bank will issue eight crore equity shares in one or more tranches, subject to necessary approvals.

To a query by one of the shareholders on the pricing of the issue, he said; “Pricing, timing and quantum will be decided at an appropriate time. We can’t come out with the issue in this volatile market. This approval will enable us to raise capital at appropriate time.” With this, the shareholding of the Government of India in the bank will come down from 66.47 per cent to 57.73 per cent.

The AGM also approved to declare a final dividend of 13 per cent for 2007-08, in addition to the interim dividend of 15 per cent.

RECRUITMENTS

Later, addressing presspersons, Mr Joseph said that the bank has taken steps to recruit officers and clerical staff after a gap of 20 years. Already 800 people have been recruited, and another 1300 will be recruited in three months.

The present recruitment drive included both campus and direct recruitments for replenishing skilled manpower in agriculture finance, information technology, accounts and financial management, law, international business and risk management among others. The bank is recruiting people from the regions concerned to meet its demands. This will help bring down attrition, he said. At present, the average age profile of the employees is 46 years.

The bank has plans to increase its branch network, and as on date 79 authorisations are in hand. Of these, 42 are proposed in under-banked districts, he said. The bank, which re-launched its ‘pigmy scheme’ last year, has now 3,300 pigmy agents. The average daily collection under the pigmy scheme is Rs 50 lakh. The outstanding amount under the scheme stood at Rs 82 crore within a short span of time, he said.

Earlier, speaking at the AGM, he said the bank may consider providing incentives to those who repay the farm loans promptly. When clarification was sought for this in the press conference, he said it is only an idea. The incentive may be in the form of a rebate in interest rates for those who repay promptly. The bank has initiated steps on the farm loan waiver scheme, he said.

To a query on whether the bank will hike lending rates, he said the bank is watching the market. The decision on interest rate depends upon what action RBI takes on tackling inflation, he added.

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