ICICI Bank sells 3.96% stake in ICICI Lombard for Rs 2,250 crore

NEW DELHI: ICICI Bank on Friday said it has divested 3.96 per cent stake in its general insurance arm for nearly Rs 2,250 crore.

Earlier on May 9, while announcing its results for the March quarter, ICICI Bank had stated that it would look at further strengthening the balance sheet as opportunities arise.

"In line with this intent and pursuant to an approval granted by the board, the bank has today divested 18,000,000 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, representing 3.96 per cent of its equity share capital at March 31, on the stock exchange for an approximate total consideration of Rs 22.50 billion," ICICI Bank said.

Following the deal, the bank’s shareholding in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has fallen to 51.9 per cent. The private lender held 55.86 per cent stake in the general insurance company as of March 31, BSE data suggests.

During the March quarter, ICICI Bank made Covid-19 related provisions worth Rs 2,725 crore to further strengthen the balance sheet. The provisions made by the bank were more than the requirement as per the Reserve Bank of India’s guideline dated April 17.

For the quarter, the private lender posted a 26.03 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in standalone profit at Rs 1,221.36 crore for the quarter ended March 31. The profit figure stood at Rs 969.06 crore for the same period last year.

Net interest income rose 17 per cent YoY to Rs 8,927 crore in Q4FY20 from Rs 7,620 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net interest margin stood at 3.87 per cent against 3.72 per cent posted in the year-ago quarter.

The shares of the lender closed 3.38 per cent higher at Rs 363.90 on BSE.