Bank of Maharashtra plans to raise Rs 1,000 cr to propel growth

New Delhi: Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) is planning to raise Rs 1,000 crore for growth opportunities and has sought approval from shareholders for it. The approval was sought at the bank’s annual general meeting of shareholders held yesterday in Pune.  “The meet was held to seek shareholders consent to raise Rs 1,000 crore by way of FPO/ Rights issue/ QIPs etc to meet capital requirements as per RBI’s Basel III norms to tap future growth opportunities,” Bank of Maharashtra said in a release today. Chairman and Managing Director Sushil Muhnot of the bank also addressed shareholders’ queries on issues including non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans, future growth strategies and dividends. On a two-year roadmap for the bank, Muhnot outlined bank’s focus on reducing NPAs, expanding bank’s portfolio in home loan, small and medium enterprises and priority sector lending and raise Rs 1,000 crore capital to propel growth, said the release. “Containing the NPAs was a challenge for the entire banking sector due to the slippages in steel, power and infrastructure. We have taken necessary steps to speed-up the recovery process across various levels of loan segments,” he added. “The bank has the lowest NPA in the retail segment, going forward we would increase our efforts in growing our home-loan portfolios. We are estimating a growth of 20-25 percent in this segment,” he said further. To fuel this growth, the bank would like to appoint DSA (Direct Selling Agents), Muhnot said. In 2015-16, the Pune headquartered state-owned Bank of Maharashtra registered net profit of Rs 100.69 crore, down from Rs 450.69 crore in the previous fiscal. The gross NPAs as a percentage to total advances rose to 9.34 percent as of March from 6.33 percent of the corresponding period previous year. Net NPAs also increased to 6.35 percent from 4.19 percent at the end of March 2015. Besides, the bank said to cater products and services to new age customers, it has undertaken several technological innovations such as MahaMobile Banking application, which will provide hassle free access. The CMD also said the bank plans to expand its human capital by recruiting around 500 employees at various levels. Stock of the bank traded at Rs 32.90 on BSE, down 1.05 per cent on BSE.