Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has expressed confidence as it offloads 11.81 million shares starting today. This will be the company’s third rights issue since 2006. “The Board is confident that the shareholders will wholeheartedly support the 2012 rights issue,” said the bank’s chairman, Abdul Samji. Both of the previous rights issues were oversubscribed. In 2006, the bank planned to raise Ksh776 million on full subscription but exceeded expectations by 197%.  In 2007, the bank expected to receive applications worth Ksh1.6 billion. This margin was exceeded by 78%, amounting to Ksh2.9 billion.

DTB will allow its shareholders to buy one out of every eight shares valued at Ksh74. Key shareholders are expected to take up more than 50% of the 24.45 million new shares leaving the rest to investors. The new shares will be sold at a discount of 17.8%.

The key shareholders include the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Jubilee Insurance, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and PDM Holdings Limited. This also includes Diamond Jubilee Investment Trust which is based in Uganda.

The bank’s 2011 group pre-tax profit rose 24% from Ksh3.5 billion to Ksh4.3 billion. The bank now intends to raise Ksh1.8 billion to expand its reach within the East African region. It currently has a total of 69 branches in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania.

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