The government on Wednesday deferred 12.5 per cent stake sale in Nalco saying the company’s second quarter financial performance is not reflective of the true financial position of the aluminium major.

“Nalco disinvestment will happen next quarter (January—March quarter). It is deferred for now. There is need to strengthen the financial performance of the company further,” Mines Minister Dinshaw Patel said.

This is the second postponement in a row. Last month, the government had to defer the public issue of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) as the Steel Ministry felt that the issue price suggested by merchant bankers was less than the book value.

“The Q2 result was not very representative of company’s valuation. In October, there is a little visible improvement. So, we decided that it will be good to do it in the third quarter,” Disinvestment Secretary Mohammad Haleem Khan said.

“Q2 performance does not represent the intrinsic value. The merchant bankers said that Q2 is an aberration and Q3 is bound to be very good. So after Q3, it will be done,” he said.

Enam Securities, SBI Caps and IDFC were acting as merchant bankers for the Nalco disinvestment.

The 12.5 per cent stake sale of Nalco was expected to fetch over Rs 1,500 crore to the exchequer at the current market price.

Shares of Nalco closed at Rs 45.95, down 0.97 per cent on the BSE over their previous close.

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