Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) will be holding its 88th to 93rd annual general meetings (AGMs) on 29 January, 2016, following the removal of legal hurdles that had prevented the bank from holding any AGM since the 87th meeting in 2010.

"NOTICE is hereby given that the 88th to 93rd Annual General Meetings (AGMs), pertaining to years 2010 to 2015, respectively, of the members of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited will be held on Friday, the 29th of January, 2016 from 10.00 a.m. onwards at Manickam Mahal, 1/1A, Tiruchendur Road, Thoothukudi – 628 003 to transact the business mentioned in the Notices convening the said AGMs. The AGMs are being convened pursuant to an order passed by the Hon'ble High Court of Madras on November 26, 2015 vacating an earlier order of the said court staying conduct of AGMs in a Writ Petition No. 11159 of 2011 filed by a shareholder," the bank said on 21 December.

The 88th AGM of the private sector lender could not be held in 2011 following a Madras High Court in 2011 in response to a writ petition. Subsequently, the High Court on 26 June, 2015 bank to hold all the six AGMs on a single day within 70 days from the date of the order. When the writ petitioner failed to secure an interim injunction against the 26 June order, the bank initiated the process of convening the AGMs.

TMB was established as Nadar Bank Ltd on 11 May, 1921, predominantly for Nadar business community. 

The bank earned a net profit of Rs 379.40 crore in 2014-15, up 26.1% from Rs 300.77 crore in the previous year. Its advances stood at Rs 19,335.95 crore in 2014-15, an increase of 12.7% from Rs 17,143.85 in 2013-14.

Total deposits were up 13.2% at Rs 25,649.86 in 2014-15. The gross and net NPA were 1.63% and 0.67%, respectively.

Investments were valued at Rs 7,671 crore as on 31 March, 2015.

The per-employee business was Rs 10.92 crore and the profit per employee Rs 9.21 lakh. There are 451 branches of the bank, according to its website.

The bank's low capital base of Rs 28.45 lakh means that the bank could distribute largesse in the form of dividend.

On 9 January, 2015, it paid 9,000% interim dividend (Rs 900 per share), followed by second interim dividend of 7,000% (Rs 700 per share) on 1 June, 2015.

The bank declared a dividend of 1000% for financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07. The dividend proposed by the Board of Directors for the financial year ended 31 March, 2008 was 5000%.

The book value per share rose phenomenally from Rs 79,788 in 2013-14 to Rs 91,203 in 2014-15, according to the bank's financial statement.

If the 94-year-old bank were to decide on 29 January on an initial public offering (IPO), as has been reported, it would be interesting to see the pricing, given the book value.

On 24 December, the book value of Axis Bank was Rs 188.47, ICICI Bank Rs 138.72, HDFC Bank Rs 247.40 and State Bank of India Rs 172.04.