[Reuters] Raiffeisen says keeping rights issue as option
[RBIV.VI RZB.UL] VIENNA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Raiffeisen Bank International <RBIV.VI> (RBI) is keeping open plans for a possible rights issue now that bank sector shares have come off last year's lows, the Austrian lender that is emerging Europe's third-biggest lender said. "We don't comment on rumours but we said at the half year (of 2011) that a capital increase could be a possible option depending on how markets develop," a spokesman said on Wednesday. Raiffeisen officials had last year played down prospects for a rights issue when bank shares were so depressed. Shares in the Austrian lender have more than doubled since touching a low of 14.155 euros on Nov. 23 and were trading at 29.30 euros by 1408 GMT, up 1.1 percent. The European Banking Authority has calculated that the Raiffeisen group needs to fill a capital shortfall of around 2.1 billion euros to have Core Tier 1 capital worth 9 percent of risk-weighted assets by mid-2012. Raiffeisen Zentralbank group [RZB.UL], RBI's unlisted parent, had achieved around 1.4 billion euros ($1.9 billion) of its campaign and steps worth another 1.6 billion were under way, RBI said last month. [ID:nL5E8CP3A7] The group has said it aims to generate 3 billion euros in all without resorting to any more state aid.