HDFC Bank inches up after seeking FIPB nod for raising foreign shareholding limit

HDFC Bank rose 0.53% to Rs 671 at 9:16 IST on BSE after the bank said it has filed an application with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board seeking approval for increasing foreign shareholding limit in the bank.

The announcement was made after market hours on Wednesday, 18 December 2013.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 40.99 points or 0.2% at 20,900.85.

On BSE, so far 2,309 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 3.36 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

The stock hit a high of Rs 680 and a low of Rs 670.55 so far during the day.

HDFC Bank announced after the market hours on Wednesday, 18 December 2013, that it has filed an application with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) seeking approval for increasing foreign shareholding limit in the bank in accordance with the now prevailing guidelines as the total foreign shareholding in the bank (FII and FDI) has crossed 49%.

The Reserve Bank of India had recently notified that the foreign shareholding through Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Non Resident Indians (NRI)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)/Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/ADRs/GDRs in HDFC Bank has crossed the overall limit of 49% of its paid-up capital and that no further purchases of shares of HDFC Bank would be allowed through stock exchanges in India on behalf of FII/NRI/PIO/FDI/ADRs/GDRs.

Total foreign shareholding in the bank as on 13 December 2013 was 52.18% of its paid-up capital. This includes investments through the FDI route in ADRs/GDRs of 17.01% which were raised in accordance with the then applicable guidelines, and other foreign holdings made under the FII route of 35.17%. Necessary approval from the shareholders is in place for FII investments up to 49%, HDFC Bank said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the bank’s American depository receipts (ADR) jumped 6.53% to settle at $35.71 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, 18 December 2013.

HDFC Bank’s net profit rose 27.1% to Rs 1982.32 crore on 17.7% growth in total income to Rs 11937.69 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.

As at 30 September 2013, the total number of branches (including extension counters) and ATM network of HDFC Bank stood at 3251 branches and 11,177 ATMs respectively.