PTSB share sale bids to raise €400m

Permanent TSB Group Holdings Plc may raise as much as €400m in a share sale, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, more than double the amount signalled by the lender last month.

Chief executive Jeremy Masding told politicians in Dublin last month that the lender aimed to raise €100m to €150m to shore up its capital, and that it had drawn “real interest” from potential investors in the UK and US Permanent TSB was the only Irish bank to fail the European Central Bank’s stress test in October.

Raising more equity would improve the quality and level of the bank’s reserves beyond what regulators are demanding, said a person who asked not to be identified, as the matter is private. The company’s shares dropped 10% in Dublin trading yesterday.