Troubled British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley says shareholders have bought more than one in four of the new shares offered under its £400m fund-raising plans.
B&B said 27.8% of its new shares had been taken up by investors when the deadline for the rights issue expired on Friday.
The result of the rights issue came as B&B unveiled former Alliance & Leicester boss Richard Pym as its new chief executive with immediate effect. Former chief executive Steven Crawshaw stepped down in June due to ill-health.
Although better supported than a recent rights issue by rival Halifax Bank of Scotland, almost £300m of B&B's new shares will now be left with underwriters backing the share issue.
Its underwriters Citi and UBS, which had said they would stand by the plan, will now have to place the remaining 597 million new shares by Friday's close. The two investment banks are supported by four major shareholders and six clearing banks that have agreed to back the underwriters.
B&B offered its shares at 55p each in the issue and its shares were trading just above that level as subscriptions closed on Friday. The bank, which has been badly hit by the credit crunch, is raising the money to help shore up its finances.
The bank said separately that there had been 'no material change in the current trading and outlook' since its trading statement published in June. B&B is due to release first-half results on August 29.
