Mumbai: Allahabad Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in India with the eighth largest asset base, has announced the price band for its forthcoming public issue of equity shares between Rs75 and Rs82. The issue opens on April 6, 2005 and will close on April 12, 2005.

Allahabad Bank will issue 10 crore equity shares of Rs10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through the book building process. Of the total offer, the bank has reserved one crore shares to be offered to its employees and another one crore shares to be offered to existing retail shareholders.

Of the eight crore shares, four crore shares are reserved for allotment to qualified institutional buyers on a discretionary basis and 1.2 crore shares for allotment to non-institutional buyers. The remaining 2.8 crores would be allotted to retail investors on a proportionate basis. The minimum lot for application is 75 shares.

The issue is being made to augment the capital base of the bank and meet its future capital requirements arising out of the implementation of the Basel II norms. The capital will also be utilised for general corporate purposes including development of infrastructure to support business growth and service customers besides meeting the expenses of the issue.

Allahabad Bank is among the oldest banks in India, with a 15-million customers base spread across its 1,938 branches in the country. As on 31 December 2004, its total were Rs589,281.2 million. In the first nine months of 2004-05, its total income was Rs28.56 billion and net profit Rs4.62 billion.

Between fiscal 2002 and 2004, the bank''s total income grew at a compound annual rate of 13.4 per cent, while unadjusted and adjusted net profit grew at a compound annual rate of 140.4 per cent and 145.95 per cent, respectively. Total deposits and total advances during the same period grew at a compound annual growth rate of 17.8 per cent and 20.4 per cent, respectively.

The book running lead managers for the issue are SBI Capital Markets Ltd, DSP Merrill Lynch Pvt. Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd., JM Morgan Stanley Pvt. Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd. and Enam Financial Consultants Ltd.