IDBI Bank to sell stakes in NSDL, AFLI  

LIC-controlled IDBI Bank has approved the divestment of its stake in two entities – National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Ageas Federal Life Insurance Company Limited (AFLI) in its recent meeting, as per exchange filings.

The board granted in-principle approval for divestment of IDBI’s stake of up to 11.10 per cent of share capital of NSDL via market driven process. It has also approved the sale of 20 lakh equity shares in AFLI to Ageas Insurance International NV or Ageas to exercise of Call Option by Ageas, according to these filings.

Another highlight of this board meeting was that the bank approved rupee bond borrowings limit of Rs 8,000 crore for 2022-23. Rupee bond borrowing limit can be borrowed in one or more tranches comprising of Additional Tier (AT-1) bonds up to Rs 3,000 crore and senior/infrastructure bonds up to Rs 1,000 crore by way of private placement during FY23, according to a regulatory filing.

For October-December quarter of FY22, the LIC-controlled bank reported 53 per cent jump in net profit mainly due to a decrease in cost of funds which triggered a boost in net interest income (NII) and net interest margin (NIM).

Net profit went up from Rs 378 crore a year ago to Rs 578 crore in the October-December quarter. NII went up 31 per cent to Rs 2,383 crore as the bank’s cost of funds fell by 60 basis points on-year to 3.79 per cent in December last year.