Yes Bank shares rally for fourth consecutive session; zoom 50% after SBI says keen to up stake to 49% in private lender

New Delhi: Shares of Yes Bank continued to rally for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, sharply rising by 50 percent after SBI chairman said the bank was keen to up stake to 49 percent in the private lender. The scrip jumped 49.95 percent to Rs 87.95 on the BSE. On the NSE, it zoomed 48.84 percent to Rs 87.30. In four days, the scrip has risen a whopping 251 percent. Shares of Yes Bank had jumped over 59 percent on Tuesday also after Moody’s upgraded the company’s ratings. Announcement of a restructuring plan has triggered the rally in the scrip.

State Bank chairman Rajnish Kumar on Tuesday said the country’s largest lender that owns close to 43 percent in Yes Bank now will not sell a single share before that mandated three-year lock-in period, and that he’s in fact keen to approach the board for hiking the holding to 49 percent. Under the RBI and government-driven rescue of the fourth largest private lender, SBI was initially asked to take up to 49 percent by investing Rs 7,250 crore into the equity capital of Yes Bank. But as seven other lenders came on board, it could pick up only around 43 percent or 60.50 crore shares for Rs 6,050 crore. Explaining the rationale for the lower stake, the chairman said “since investor interest was overwhelming, which met the current capital requirement, we chose to pick up only so much in the first round of fund raising.” “In fact, I am keen to move my board to seek permission to increase the stake to the maximum permissible 49 percent and that it’s my commitment that SBI will not sell a single share before the three-year lock-in. This is in spite of the regulatory and government permission to pare down our equity to 26 percent by after three years. And I don’t see my board saying no to the proposal as well,” Kumar said. Further, the moratorium on Yes Bank would be lifted by 6 pm on 18 March, as per the reconstruction scheme notified by the government on Friday. Yes Bank CEO-designate Prashant Kumar on Tuesday said there are absolutely no worries on the liquidity front and that complete operational normalcy would be restored from 6 pm on Wednesday.