Bharat Financial Inclusion shares rose 2 percent in a sluggish trading session Tuesday as talks of the firm being taken over by IndusInd Bank continue to swirl.
On the NSE, around 1.2 crore shares were traded, compared to the average daily volume of 39 lakh shares over the last month.
Interestingly, Bharat Financial shares firmed up even as the company is grappling with weak collections in the aftermath of demonetisation. To worsen matters for the company, many borrowers have been delaying repayments following rumours of a loan waiver.
According to some traders and fund managers tracking the stock, IndusInd Bank may pay between Rs 900-1,000 per share for Bharat Financial.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Bharat Financial said that the company did not comment on market speculation. E-mails sent to IndusInd Bank did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this report.
Market chatter about an impending takeover has been doing the rounds for over a month now.
During an analyst call on Monday, the management team of Bharat Financial had refused to comment on any such development. The company had held an analyst call on Monday to assuage concerns over the collection of dues.
The company said collections, which took a hit after demonetization, deteriorated further in February ahead of elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Bharat Financial's managing director and chief executive M R Rao said given that elections are in its last leg, the intensity of the campaign for loan waivers had come down. However, collections would take a couple of months to normalise he added. In some parts of UP and Maharashtra, the company’s management conveyed that collections were improving.
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