Century Bank IPO oversubscribed by over 23 times; draws 20.72 arba

ShareSansar, January 16:

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) worth Rs 92 crore issued by Century Commercial Bank Limited is oversubscribed by more than 25 times as per the final emerging figure being compiled by the issue managers.

“The latest updated figure of the collection of Century IPO stands at Rs 20 arba, 72 crore, 65 lakhs and 80 thousand” the official designated by the issue managers to compile the IPO application told ShareSansar today. “Though a few cheques might bounce here and there, we can safely say that the IPO is oversubscribed by around 23.03 times.”

At the closing day of the IPO, the issue managers were expecting to draw not more than Rs 16 arba.

The IPO, which was issued from January 9,  had closed on January 13.

Long serpentine queues could be seen in front of all the collection centers on the closing day of the IP0.

Century’s IPO was one of the most expected events in the stock market not just because of its sheer volume but also because it is the last IPO to be issued by any commercial bank of the country.

Nepal Rastra Bank has stopped issuing license to the commercial bank, and, on the contrary, has been directing the commercial banks and other BFIs to seek merger.

The offering was also special in that it was the largest IPO to be issued by any private bank in the country, second only to primary shares worth Rs 96 crore floated by Agriculture Development Bank Limited.

ICRA Nepal had assigned an ‘[ICRANP] IPO Grade 4+’ to Century Bank’s IPO, which is not at all bad by any standards.

Following the IPO, the commercial bank’s paid-up capital of Rs 1.08 billion will rise to Rs two billion, as per the regulatory requirement.

It may be noted that there was a huge response to the IPOs issued by three commercial banks — Civil Bank, Commerz and Trust Bank Nepal and Mega Bank—had issued their IPO over the last one year.

Civil Bank’s IPO was oversubscribed by seven times, Commerz and Trust’s IPO was oversubscribed by 11 times and Mega Bank’s IPO was oversubscribed by 22 times.