The Board of Directors of PNB Housing Finance Ltd (PNBHFL), on Tuesday, gave its nod for raising up to ₹2,000 crore via non-convertible debentures (NCDs) through one or more tranches.
The NCDs will be raised through private placement basis and could be both secured as well as unsecured NCDs. The details of the issue, including pricing, will be decided in the coming days.
This decision to go in for fund-raise via NCD route comes on the heels of PNBHFL board deciding not to proceed with the ₹4,000-crore preferential allotment deal with Carlyle Group and other marquee investors.
Meanwhile, PNBHFL has reported a 25 per cent decline in net profit for the second quarter ended September 30 at ₹235 crore (₹313 crore). PNBHFL had recorded a net profit of ₹243.28 crore in the first quarter this fiscal.
Total income for the quarter under review declined 21 per cent to ₹1,586 crore (₹2,022 crore). In the first quarter this fiscal, total income came in at ₹1,693 crore.
For the six months ended September 30, PNBHFL recorded net profit of ₹606 crore, compared to net profit of ₹725 crore in the same period last fiscal.
It may be recalled that the PNBHFL-Carlyle Group deal was shelved by PNBHFL after the deal had hit a roadblock post a proxy advisory firm red flagging the preferential allotment on the pricing front, contending that it was not in the interest of the promoter (PNB) as well as the minority shareholders of PNBHFL.
Market regulator SEBI had soon after this intervened and asked PNBHFL not to go ahead with the planned preferential issue until the valuation of the shares is done by an independent registered valuer.
PNBHFL had then fixed the preferential allotment price at ₹390 per share, lower than the stock price prevailing at that time. The company had preferred an appeal before the securities appellate tribunal (SAT) on the SEBI letter.
A two-member bench of the SAT, on August 9, gave a split verdict and directed that its interim order of June 21 will continue till further orders. SAT also restrained PNB Housing Finance from disclosing the voting results (of shareholders) on the fund raise plan.
Post the SAT’s split verdict, SEBI had filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against this verdict.
The Supreme Court dismissed the SEBI appeal against the SAT’s order in the PNBHFL’s ₹4,000-crore capital raising deal with Carlyle Group and other investors, stating that the appeal has become infructuous due to subsequent developments.