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Bank of Baroda Plans to Raise $690 Million After Unexpected Loss

Bank of Baroda plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore through a sale of shares and up to Rs 3,000 crore via bonds.

Bank of Baroda Plans to Raise $690 Million After Unexpected Loss
Customers exit a Bank of Baroda branch in Mumbai. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Bank of Baroda plans to raise 50 billion rupees ($690 million) from sales of shares and bonds after posting an unexpected loss in the fourth quarter.

India’s state-run lender’s borrowing plan includes raising as much as 20 billion rupees through a sale of shares and up to 30 billion rupees via bonds that qualify as capital, according to an exchange filing Saturday.

The bank posted a net loss of 10.5 billion rupees in three months ended March 31 from a profit in the year-earlier period. That compares with an 11 billion-rupee profit average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The bank raised 45 billion rupees from institutional investors in March to strengthen its capital ratios as the South Asian nation’s financial sector got hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Bank of Baroda’s gross bad loan ratio was at 8.87% at the end of March compared with 8.48% at end-December.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.