RBL Bank Limited's MD and CEO has sold 14,40,000 shares

Mr Vishwavir Ahuja, Managing Director and CEO of RBL Bank Limited, mentioning that he has sold 14,40,000 shares of the bank between 19th-25th February, 2021 for approx. Rs 35.07 crores, which is as per the preclearance taken by him.

Mr Ahuja has given the below intimation to the Compliance Officer of the bank -

"I hereby inform that, as per the pre-clearance taken by me, I have sold 14,40,000 shares of RBL Bank between 19th-25th February 2021 for approx. Rs 35.07 crores.

The sale proceeds shall be utilised primarily to purchase and build a family home and take care of other family commitments. This is a very essential and much delayed imperative for the family's well-being.

The sale represents approx. 17% of my/family's total holdings and we will continue to retain approx. 70 lakh shares of RBL Bank, almost 70% of my peak holdings since joining the Bank in 2010.

Since I stepped into RBL Bank more than 10 years ago, I have not made any new investment in hard assets or financial instruments, including mutual funds, etc. In fact, throughout the journey at RBL Bank over this period, I have had to carry a significant debt burden, undertaken mainly to exercise and purchase vested ESOP's of the Bank. I have recently repaid most of this debt and am now planning to build our family home, for which I need to sell a part of my holdings.

The sale of shares is purely for personal and family reasons. The completion of the property transaction may require me to sell another 3-4% of my holdings over the next few months.

While I have sold a part of my shareholding in RBL Bank I continue to believe strongly in RBL Bank's financial strength, the business franchise, and its future prospects. Over the last decade, from being among the country's smallest scheduled commercial banks, we have built a high-quality, professional institution with a pan-India presence and strong business fundamentals, delivering manifold growth in business and profits. The economic environment over the past 12 to 18 months has been challenging, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and its consequential impact. We have effectively dealt with the economic impact of the pandemic situation that has affected us all over the past year, remaining resilient and profitable. In fact, during this period we have further strengthened our balance sheet and related capital/liquidity buffers, deepened our deposit franchise, and focussed on tight risk and cost management, thereby fortifying the institution and ensuring stability and sustainability. As such, even as the pandemic is now waning, the financial stress is easing, and the economy is reviving, we believe we are well-positioned to exploit market opportunities in the short as well as long term. The bank has strong growth prospects over the next several years especially in areas in which we have significant market share and have chosen to scale-up.

We have walked down the path of a successful transformation journey at RBL Bank that started 10 years ago, and believe that the recent economic disruptions will only further accelerate the opportunities that present themselves to a technologically led bank such as ours, which I continue to lead with full commitment and thereon to build a market-leading organisation."

Shares of RBL Bank Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs.248.95 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 246.55. The total number of shares traded during the day was 629691 in over 6054 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 256.7 and intraday low of 247.25. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 158245087.

Source : Equity Bulls

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