PNB Housing Finance raises $265 m through ECB; fund to be used for on-lending operations

Mumbai: Mortgage lender Punjab National Bank  (PNB) Housing Finance has raised $265 million (around Rs 1,853 crore) through external commercial borrowing (ECB).

The fund, raised in the last week of December, will be utilised for normal on-lending operations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

With this, it has raised $465 million (Rs 3,324 crore) through ECBs during the third quarter, managing director and chief executive Sanjaya Gupta said, adding the forex borrowing has a five-year tenor.

He did not say what is the coupon the company will be paying to subscribers. Gupta said despite market headwinds, the company also raised about Rs 20,000 crore of funds at competitive interest rates during the third quarter of FY19.

This includes both long-term and short-term facilities through deposits (Rs 1,400 crore), ECBs ($465 million), NHB refinance (Rs 2,000 crore), securitisation (direct assignment route — Rs 2,700 crore), bank borrowings (Rs 1,725 crore) and commercial papers (Rs 9,225 crore).

The housing finance company plans to maintain an exposure of about 12-13 percent in CPs of the entire borrowing, Gupta said.

As of end December, the company had a liquidity of about Rs 12,000 crore which includes cash and liquid investments of Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 6,000 crore of sanctioned undrawn-credit lines.