Canara Bank sells entire stake in Russian joint venture to SBI

Canara Bank said in the regulatory filing on Friday that it has entered into a share sale agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) for the sale of equity shares held by it in the Commercial Indo Bank LLC (CIBL), Moscow for a consideration of $14.67 million. 

The state owned lender had transferred the entire shares held in CIBL to State Bank of India on November 30, 2022, with the consent of Central Bank of Russia. 
Canara Bank informed the stock exchanges on Friday, “CIBL is a joint venture between SBI and Canara Bank, in a ratio of 60:40, and was incorporated in Russia in 2003.”

The state-owned lender said that even though the transfer of all the shares held by it in CIBL to SBI is completed, the consideration in US dollar as agreed by the parties has not yet been received, and the transaction is expected to complete by the end of the current financial year, that is, on or before March 31, 2023, the bank added.

Meanwhile, the bank reported 92% increase in profit at Rs 2,882 crore for the quarter ended December 2022, led by a rise in interest income and decline in bad loans. Its net profit stood at Rs 1,502 crore in the same quarter of the preceding financial year.

Interest income rose to Rs 22,231 crore as against Rs 17,701 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Net NPAs too eased to 1.96 per cent as compared to 2.86 per cent in the same period a year ago. The capital adequacy ratio rose to 16.72 per cent in December quarter as against 14.80 per cent.