AXIS Bank vaults on buzz of mulling sale of swipe business

AXIS Bank gained 4.38% to Rs 1,241.80 at 15:07 IST on BSE, on reports that three global payment processing giants are bidding for the bank's network of credit and debit card swipe machines business valued at Rs 1200 crore.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 244.20 points, or 1.18%, to 20,952.91

On BSE, 2.99 lakh shares were traded in the counter compared with average volume of 4.57 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 1,249 and a low of Rs 1,228 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 764 on 4 September 2013. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,549 on 20 May 2013.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 4 December 2013, falling 2.44% compared with the Sensex's 2.5% fall. The scrip also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, advancing 48.33% as against Sensex's 11.53% surge.

The large-cap bank has an equity capital of Rs 469.23 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Three global payment processing giants, Global Payments, WorldPay and Total System Services (TSYS), are reportedly bidding for Axis Bank's network of more than two lakh credit and debit card swipe machines business valued at Rs 1200 crore.

Axis Bank ranks number three in swipe machines or electronic point of sale (POS) terminals with 2.27 lakh machines. These terminals facilitate cashless shopping transactions by swiping credit or debit cards, helping merchants to reduce risks and costs in handling cash.

Meanwhile, in its clarification to the news report, AXIS Bank during market hours today, 5 December 2013, said that the bank evaluates opportunities for various strategic initiatives on an ongoing basis. As and when any of these discussions fructify, the bank will make suitable announcements to the stock exchanges, it said.

AXIS Bank's net profit rose 21.3% to Rs 1362.31 crore on 13.2% growth in total income to Rs 9375.08 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.

AXIS Bank is the third largest private sector bank in India. With its 2,021 domestic branches (including extension counters) and 11,488 ATMs across the country, as on 30 June 2013, the network of AXIS Bank spreads across 1,300 cities and towns. The bank also has overseas offices in UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Colombo, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

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