SBI Shares In Focus After Mega QIP Launch

Shares of State Bank of India were trading flat early on Thursday after its Rs 25,000-crore qualified institutional placement opened on Wednesday.

The bank has received necessary regulatory approvals and has approved the floor price for the issue at Rs 811.05 apiece. This marks a 2.5% discount as against the stock's Wednesday closing price of Rs 830.5 apiece.

The state-run lender may offer a discount of not more than 5% on the floor price. Earlier on Wednesday, NDTV Profit had reported that the bank may launch its Rs 25,000-crore QIP at a 2–3% discount to the current market price. Life Insurance Corporation of India is said to be the biggest anchor investor, and domestic mutual funds are also seen bidding in SBI's QIP, sources said.

"They have no requirement of near term capital. This is needed for the medium term for a possible migration. And for whenever we see a growth uptick, SBI will be well positioned," according to Rohan Mandora, associate director at Equirus Securities.

Mandora expects a four basis point improvement in the second quarter after factoring repo cuts. He also noted that PSU banks are delivering healthy ROEs of 15% to 18%.

The public sector bank had issued its last QIP at a 1% discount. In June 2017, SBI had raised Rs 15,000 crore via QIP at an issue price of Rs 287.25 per share. Citigroup, HSBC, ICICI Securities, Kotak Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley, and SBI Capital Markets are the lead managers for this issue.

SBI stock rose as much as 1.06% during the day to Rs 840 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 0.07% higher at Rs 832 apiece, compared to a 0.06% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 9:43 a.m.

It has declined 5.44% in the last 12 months and 4.73% on a year-to-date basis. The relative strength index was at 65.

Eighteen out of the 34 analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock, six recommend a 'hold,' and ten suggest a 'sell,' according to Bloomberg data. The 12-month analysts' consensus target price on the stock is Rs 1,055, implying an upside of 2.5%.