Non-Core Asset Sales Gathering Pace, Says IDBI Bank

IDBI Bank Ltd., India's worst bank by asset quality, expects significant inflows from sale of non-core assets in the ongoing quarter after the state-run lender offloaded assets worth about Rs 4,000 crore in the just-concluded financial year.

“We have been able to unlock around Rs 4,000 crore in total [in 2017-18], including the Bandra Kurla Complex building deal,” KP Nair, deputy managing director at IDBI Bank, told BloombergQuint in an interview. “Most of the assets will be monetised during 2018-19.”

IDBI Bank just sold its office building in Mumbai to the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India to raise capital as it struggles with bad loans. The lender's gross non-performing assets, according to its filings, stood at 24.72 percent of its total loans as of December—the highest among Indian banks.

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The bank expects its loan book to decline amid resolution of stressed assets under India's new bankruptcy law and it's focus on lending for “better-rated assets where risks are lower”, Nair said. “That's actually in keeping with the overall strategy of the bank with regard to capital augmentation.”

Watch the full interview here.