CSB Bank IPO: Will it be a bumper listing on December 4?

South-based private sector lender CSB Bank will make a debut on bourses December 4 after a massive subscription of 87 times.

The Rs 410-crore public issue saw strong subscription from all kinds of investors. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 164.68 times, qualified institutional buyers 62.18 times and retail investors at 44.53 times.

Overall, the issue had received bids worth Rs 19,586 crore.

As a result, most experts expect CSB Bank to list with a hefty premium of more than Rs 50 over its final issue price of Rs 195 per share, the higher end of the price band.

In fact, sources told Moneycontrol that the grey market premium is also around 60-65 per share.

“With an overwhelming response to CSB Bank IPO, we believe it would list around Rs 250+ levels, which translates to 28 percent premium over the upper end of the IPO price Rs 195. A premium listing seems to be justified, assuming turnaround in business efficiency which is expected to further improve going forward,” Prashanth Tapse, AVP Research, Mehta Equities told Moneycontrol.

Astha Jain, Senior Research Analyst at Hem Securities and Rajesh Agarwal, Head of Research, AUM Capital also expect CSB to list with a premium of anywhere between Rs 55-65 over the final issue price of Rs 195 per share while Emkay Global Financial Services believes the stock should list between 15-20 percent premium.

CSB Bank is one of the oldest private sector banks in India with a history of over 98 years and has a strong base in Kerala along with a significant presence in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.

“Although the bank has shown losses consecutively from FY17 to FY19, it has seen a turnaround at the bottomline level in the first half of FY20. Also, the bank has strong channel network and trusted brand in South India with a strong capital base after investment by Fairfax India through FIH Mauritius Investments Ltd (FIHM) in the bank in 2018,” said Astha Jain.

CSB with its stable and granular deposit base has professional and experienced management with strong and independent Board which infuses optimism in future prospects of the bank, she said.

The bank delivers its products and services through multiple channels, including 412 branches (excluding three service branches and three asset recovery branches) and 290 ATMs spread across 16 states and four union territories as on September 30, 2019, and various alternate channels such as micro ATMs, debit cards, internet banking, mobile banking, point of sale services and UPI.

Gold loans constituted a major portion of bank’s advances, contributing 33.17 percent of bank’s total advances as on September 30, 2019. Its gold loan book has grown from Rs 2,026.3 crore in March 2017 to Rs 3,781.8 crore as on September 30, 2019.

Bank manages risk by ensuring that its advances are adequately secured. As on September 2019, 94.85 percent (i.e. Rs 10,815.5 crore) of bank’s advances were secured. Bank’s efforts in strengthening risk management have improved its asset quality. Its gross NPAs decreased to 2.86 percent as of September 2019, from 4.87 percent in March 2019 and net NPAs decreased to 1.96 percent from 2.27 percent in the same period.

The public issue, which was opened for subscription during November 22-26, comprised of fresh issue of Rs 24 crore and offer for sale of 1.97 crore shares by selling shareholders including HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential Life, ICICI Lombard, Federal Bank etc.Get access to India’s fastest growing financial subscriptions service Moneycontrol Pro for as little as Rs 599 for first year. Use the code “GETPRO”. Moneycontrol Pro offers you all the information you need for wealth creation including actionable investment ideas, independent research and insights & analysis For more information, check out the Moneycontrol website or mobile app.