Agricultural Development Bank (ADB)IPO within mid-August

KATHMANDU, July 31: Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) Nepal is planning to float its shares in the market by mid-August, Janak Raj Shah, CEO of the bank, said."We are currently waiting for approval from Securities Board of Nepal," Shah told journalists at a press meet organized in Kathmandu on Friday. "Soon after we get the clearance, we will launch the Initial Public Offerring (IPO). This can happen within mid-August." ADB-Nepal is launching the biggest IPO of Rs 960 million in Nepal.Established in 1968, ADB Nepal, a state-owned bank, was incorporated into a public limited company in July 2005.In the last fiscal year ended July 15, this category ´A´ bank generated a net profit of Rs 1.67 billion. This profit, however, does not include the entire fund that the bank received from the government for writing off debts of borrowers, Shah said.In the last fiscal year, the government had waived debts of individuals who had borrowed loans of up to Rs 30,000 from ADB Nepal. It had also waived interest and other penalties for persons who had taken a loan ranging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 100,000 from the bank.To compensate the bank for writing off debts and interest amounts, the government in the last fiscal year had given Rs 4.17 billion to the bank. Of this amount, the bank has deposited Rs 3.89 billion in its reserve fund. This amount, however, has not been included while calculating net profit of the bank, Shah clarified.Till the last fiscal year, ADB Nepal collected Rs 35.04 billion in deposits and mobilized Rs 38.22 billion in loans. By the end of the last fiscal year, its non-performing loans had also come down to 8.66 percent from 11.69 percent of fiscal year 2007/08.
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