Monday, July 27, 2015

PFC stake sale subscribed 36% in initial hour of trade.

The government's 5 per cent stake sale in power sector lender PFC kicked off on Monday with the issue getting subscribed 36 per cent in the initial hour of trade.

The government is looking to raise over Rs 1,600 crore from sale of 6.60 crore shares in Power Finance Corp (PFC) through a one-day OFS route at a floor price of Rs 254 apiece.

PFC is the second PSU to be divested in the current fiscal under the government's disinvestment programme. In April, government had sold 5 per cent stake in REC to garner Rs 1,550 crore.

The share sale, which began at 0915 hours, received good response from institutional investors and portion reserved for them was subscribed 42 per cent by 1025 hrs.

The portion reserved for retail investors, who are also getting 5 per cent price discount, was subscribed 11 per cent, as per the stock exchange data.

Overall, the Offer was subscribed 36 per cent and the subscription may rise further during the day as bidding will continue till 1530 hrs.

As against a floor price of Rs 254 a share for the OFS, PFC shares were trading at Rs 257.70. The current market price was, however, down 0.71 per cent over previous close on BSE.

The floor price of Rs 254 a share was at a discount of 2.14 per cent over Friday's closing price of Rs 259.55.

At the floor price, the government is expected to mobilise around Rs 1,676 crore through the divestment.
At present, government holds 72.80 per cent equity in Power Finance Corporation. After sale of 6.60 crore shares representing 5 per cent stake on offer, government's holding will be reduced to 67.80 per cent.

PFC is the first disinvestment under the modified OFS rules of Sebi under which companies are allowed to disclose stake sale plans two 'banking' days ahead of the issue.

The Department of Disinvestment had approached Sebi in March saying they do not want trading days in-between the announcement and stake sale.

Earlier, the companies were required to give an advance notice of two trading days before the OFS, which the government says gave scope for speculators to beat down the share price of the disinvestment-bound PSU.

The Department has a Rs 69,500-crore target from PSU disinvestment in the current fiscal, of which Rs 41,000 crore would come from minority stake sale and Rs 28,500 crore from strategic stake sale.

As much as 20 per cent of the issue size is reserved for retail investors and 25 per cent for mutual funds and domestic insurance companies.

The remaining portion is left for institutional investors, which are usually lapped up mostly by domestic financial institutions and foreign funds. 
RIL shares down over 1% on profit-booking.

Shares of Reliance Industries on Monday fell by over 1 per cent on profit-taking amid an overall weak broader market even as the company reported highest quarterly profit in seven-and-a-half years on strong refining and petrochemical margins.

The stock opened the day on a positive note but later fell by 1.24 per cent to Rs 1,012.25 on BSE. At the NSE, shares of the company were down 1.31 per cent to Rs 1,011.55.

On Friday, RIL had reported a standalone net profit of Rs 6,318 crore or Rs 19.5 per share in April-June quarter, which was 11.8 per cent higher than Rs 5,649 crore or Rs 17.5 a share in the same period a year ago.

The first quarter profit in the current financial year 2015-16 was highest since earning in October-December 2007.

Revenue fell 26 per cent to Rs 77,130 crore, hurt by a sharp fall in prices of crude oil and petroleum products, the company had said in a statement.

Consolidated net profit rose 4.4 per cent to Rs 6,222 crore in April-June quarter of the current fiscal as against Rs 5,957 crore a year ago, the statement said.

In the broader market, the BSE Sensex was quoting 326.60 points down at 27,760.89. 
Sensex falls 551 points, marks biggest one-day percentage fall in nearly two months.

 The BSE Sensex fell nearly 2 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day percentage loss in nearly two months, on China`s stock market rout and concerns that possible stricter norms for participatory notes back home may hit foreign investments.

The BSE Sensex ended down 1.96 percent, marking its biggest single-day fall since June 2.

The Nifty closed 1.88 percent lower, its biggest percentage fall in a day since June 11.