The Government will divest 7.64 per cent of its stake in National Fertiliers Ltd (NFL) to make the public sector unit compliant with SEBI norms on public shareholding.
The Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved the disinvestment of 7.64 per cent of the paid-up capital of NFL. However, the Government has not spelt out the time frame for carrying out the disinvestment.
Approximately 3.74 crore shares of Rs 10 each will be divested in NFL by the Government, which currently owns 97.64 per cent of the fertiliser maker.
At current market price of Rs 34.60, which is hovering marginally higher than the yearly low, the Government could possibly mop up around Rs 130 crore from the disinvestment.
The paid-up capital of NFL, as on March 31, stood at Rs 490.58 crore, comprising approximately 49.05 crore equity shares of Rs 10 face value each.
Tracking the announcement, NFL shares ended 2 per cent higher at Rs 34.60 on Friday.
NFL reported a net loss of Rs 170.73 crore on revenue of Rs 6,725.01 crore for the year ended March. Last year, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 126.73 crore on revenue of Rs 7,309.93 crore.
NFL, under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of urea, 16 industrial products and three types of bio-fertilisers from its five operating units located at Nangal and Bhatinda in Punjab, Panipat in Haryana and two units at Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.
vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in
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