'Speculative': Federal Bank on merger talks with Kotak

As of now, the bank is adequately capitalised (CAR of 14.57 percent) and will raise capital if growth remains strong

Federal Bank on September 5 described as “speculative’ a CNBC Awaaz report of the private sector lender holding initial merger talks with Kotak Mahindra Bank.

"We wish to clarify categorically that the news report of a merger between Federal Bank and another private bank is speculative in nature," Federal Bank said in an exchange notice.

"In this regard, we would like to state that there is no information available with the Company as of today, which is required to be reported under extant SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, and which may have a bearing on the stock price of the Company," it added.

Top management of both banks likely met for a potential deal, CNBC Awaaz reported earlier in the day, citing sources. The talks may or may not result in a merger.

Kotak Bank declined to comment on the story.

Shares of the Federal Bank witnessed a sharp surge after the news report, rising nearly 7 percent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to trade at Rs 127.45 apiece.

Federal Bank reported a 63.53 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs 600.66 crore for the quarter ended June, as against Rs 367.29 crore in the same quarter last year.

Interest earned for the quarter rose 8.14 percent YoY to Rs 3,628.86 crore against Rs 3,355.71 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Net interest income (NII) came in at Rs 1,605 crore compared with Rs 1,418 crore YoY.