BNP Paribas Sells HDFC Bank Shares Worth Rs 543.27 Crore

BNP Paribas Financial Markets on Tuesday sold a stake worth Rs 543.27 crore in HDFC Bank Ltd. through open market transactions.

The fund house offloaded 30.72 lakh shares, representing a 0.04% stake, in India's largest private sector bank at Rs 1,768.05 apiece, according to block deal data on the BSE.

On the other hand, UBS Principal Capital Asia Ltd. bought 30.72 lakh shares at Rs 1,768.05 per share.

The bank is looking at selling about Rs 60,000–70,000 crore worth of loan assets to potential investors in a bid to free up liquidity and reduce its credit-deposit ratio, NDTV Profit reported on Tuesday.

The lender is likely to sell mortgage and car loans as part of this process, according to two people in the know. HDFC Bank will likely resort to passing through certificates for such sales, the people quoted above said.

HDFC Bank's share price hit a two-month high on Wednesday after HSBC raised its target price for the stock to Rs 2,010 while maintaining a "buy" call. The target price was raised from Rs 1,870, which implies an upside of 13.7%. Following this, HDFC Bank share price recovered from its opening fall and climbed to hit its highest level since July 3.

The stock rose as much as 1.13% during the day to Rs 1,788 apiece on the NSE. The stock closed 0.62% lower at Rs 1,779.10 per share. This compares with a 0.25% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50. It has risen 16.21% in the last 12 months and 4.77% year-to-date.