Bradford & Bingley says not planning a rights issue

LONDON (Reuters) - British bank Bradford & Bingley BB.L said on Sunday that it was not intending to raise cash through a rights issue or any other method, rejecting a report that it was looking to strengthen its balance sheet.

"Contrary to press speculation, Bradford & Bingley announces that it is not intending to issue equity capital by way of a rights issue or otherwise," the company said in a statement.

The Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph both reported that B&B was planning to raise hundreds of millions of pounds through a rights issue later this month.

A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that, like other banks, it had looked at its options regarding its capital position and decided it did not need to act for the time being.

The decision would have helped to strengthen the bank's balance sheet, but the company said its financial position was not precarious.

"B&B has a strong capital base, above its regulatory requirements, and as a result of the board's conservative approach has funded its business activities through 2008 and 2009," the statement said.

"In the current market environment, the board will naturally continue to monitor closely the balance sheet strength of the business and its funding plans," it added.

B&B said earlier this month that it had seen a "very strong" start to the year in attracting retail deposits, and its mortgage margins had held up during the recent market turmoil.

Its shares fell nearly 5 percent on Friday, closing the week at 167.5 pence, valuing the group at just over 1 billion pounds.

(Reporting by John Bowker, editing by Will Waterman)