UPDATE: ANZ Bank Raises Higher Than Expected A$2.2 Billion Via SPP
July 09 2009 - 1:57AM
Dow Jones News
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU) said
Thursday that it raised A$2.2 billion in new equity through its
share purchase plan - more than originally flagged.
In a statement, Melbourne-based ANZ said that "following
outstanding support" it will accept all applications from retail
shareholders for new shares. The share purchase plan come after the
group raised A$2.5 billion through an institutional placement in
late May.
When it first announced the institutional placement and outlined
details of the share purchase plan in May, ANZ said that it
reserved the right to scale back share purchase plan applications
if total demand exceeded A$350 million.
ANZ Bank shares fell after the details of the
higher-than-expected share purchase plan issue were announced. At
0526 GMT, ANZ was down 1.9% at A$15.98. Prior to the announcement,
ANZ was trading at A$16.30.
"The size of the SPP makes it the most successful undertaken by
an Australian company and represents a strong endorsement of ANZ's
super regional strategy," ANZ Chief Executive Mike Smith said in
Thursday's statement.
The bank said the extra capital will provide increased financial
flexibility to pursue strategic and organic opportunities, and
further strengthen its capital position.
It said its talks to buy some of Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Plc's (RBS.LN) retail and commercial banking assets are progressing
but remain incomplete.
ANZ hasn't named which countries it wants to buy in but Smith
recently said that the lender is targeting general growth in
countries including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and
Vietnam.
ANZ also said that, while the economic outlook remains subdued
and unpredictable, it is sticking to its previous guidance on bad
debt provisioning. It said in late May that it expects its second
half provisioning charge to be around 20% higher than the A$1.435
billion charge booked for the six months to March 31.
-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2093;
lyndal.mcfarland@dowjones.com
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