IDBI Might Now be ‘LIC IDBI Bank’ or ‘LIC Bank’ As Controlling Stake Is Loaded

LIC last month completed the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in IDBI, a move aimed at giving the beleaguered lender much-needed capital to be reserved for bad loans and grow its lending

New Delhi: After being taken over by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) last month, IDBI Bank's board on Monday planned to change the name of the lender to either LIC IDBI Bank or LIC Bank. LIC last month completed the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in IDBI, a move aimed at giving the beleaguered lender much-needed capital to be reserved for bad loans and grow its lending. It also marked the entry of LIC, now over 60 years old, into the banking space.

Monday came the approval

The board, in its meeting on Monday, "approved a proposal for change of name of IDBI Bank, subject to RBI's no objection, name availability or reservation by Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), shareholders' approval through Postal Ballot, Stock Exchanges' approval, etc".

The board's first preference would be LIC IDBI Bank Ltd followed by LIC Bank Ltd.

IDBI's net loss widens

As bad loans surged, IDBI's net loss ballooned nearly threefold to Rs 4,185.48 crore for the three months ended December 2018.

In the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, the bank had reported a net loss of Rs 1,524.31 crore. Total income dropped to Rs 6,190.94 crore for the quarter, against Rs 7,125.20 crore in the corresponding quarter one year back, IDBI Bank said in a statement.

Through a combination of preferential allotment and open offer of equity, the Cabinet permitted the acquisition of controlling stake by LIC as a promoter in the bank in August last year.