Jhunjhunwala now owns 1.6 per cent stake or 29.1 million shares of the state-owned bank. Prior quarter shareholding data did not show Jhunjhunwala as an investor.
The Big Bull’s entry into the PSU bank comes at a time when the lender has raised Rs 2,500 crore in fresh capital from institutional investors to shore up its capital ratios.
Jhunjhunwala has in the past expressed bullishness on the prospects of state-owned banks, which over the past decade have been crippled by non-performing loans.
In March, Jhunjhunwala had claimed that PSU bank stocks were “hopelessly undervalued” given that the credit cycle is turning for the better and there will be demand for credit going ahead as the economy picks up steam.
State-owned lenders control around two-thirds of the banking loan market in India despite being starved of capital in the past 10 years. The space has consistently ceased market share to private sector players, who have better capital positions and marketing.
In the quarter ended September, Canara Bank’s shares rose 14 per cent. Today, the shares were trading 0.4 per cent higher at Rs 175.2 on the National Stock Exchange.
