An anchor investor in Yes Bank has sold a part of its equity stake in the bank.

Bay Tree India Holdings has sold a little over 2 per cent stake in Yes Bank in open market transactions, trimming its stake in the private sector lender by almost a third.

According to a regulatory filing, Bay Tree India Holdings I LLC, which held a 7.48 per cent stake in Yes Bank, sold 52.15 crore shares representing 2.08 per cent of equity stake in multiple tranches between January 6 and May 6, 2021. After the sale, its stake in Yes Bank stood at 5.40 per cent or around 135.3 crore shares.

In July last year, Yes Bank collected Rs 4,098 crore from anchor investors, before its follow-on public offering. Bay Tree India Holdings I, owned by Tilden Park, was the largest investor, infusing Rs 2,250 crore in the lender for an allocation of 187.5 crore shares or 7.48 per cent in the bank.

Since its rescue last year, Yes Bank has improved its performance on the liabilities (deposits) front though its bad loans remain at elevated levels.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, while gross non performing assets (NPAs) in absolute terms fell to Rs 28,609.53 crore from Rs 32,877.59 crore, the percentage of gross NPAs during the quarter stood at 15.41 per cent of assets against 16.80 per cent.

Some of the brokerages continue to have a sell rating on the bank.

PNB share dips

Shares of Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Tuesday closed in the red after the PSU bank announced a qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue to raise funds. On the BSE, the PNB scrip ended lower by 1.40 per cent at Rs 35.10 after falling 5.20 per cent to an intra-day low of Rs 33.75.

On Monday, PNB had announced that its board has approved raising equity capital from QIPs to enhance its capital base. Accordingly, it fixed a floor price of Rs 35.51 per equity share.