Volatile stock market is likely to play a spoilsport, as the government on Wednesday said
follow on public offer (FPO) of state-run SAIL is not possible at
current market price of the public sector firm.
SAIL's scrip on Wednesday closed at Rs 139.25 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange, down 25.91 per cent compared to its share price at the beginning of the year.
"We have not taken any decision for the FPO but at Wednesday's price (of shares of SAIL in the markets), it does not suit us. It is not possible," Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma told reporters in the national capital.
He added that "no one wants to sell it cheap, neither the company nor the government. We can
wait for the right time ."
When asked about the probable dates for FPO, Verma said the government still has some time to take a final call.
SAIL's FPO committee had earlier proposed to launch the share sale programme on June 14. However, the company board, in its meeting held last Monday, could not decide upon the time line due to high volatility in the stock markets.
The steel minister also denied any pressure from the Finance Ministry and the Department of Disinvestment to launch the FPO at the earliest.
"We are not under pressure from the finance ministry. They have told us to decide on our own," Verma said.
According to the earlier plan of the Maharatna firm, its share-sale prospectus with Registrar of Companies (RoC) was to be filed on May 31, while June 1 was the proposed date for filing it with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
"We still have time to decide on when to file the prospectus with the regulatory authorities... It can still be done on June 1, if market conditions improve," Steel Secretary P K Misra said after a stock taking meeting held on Wednesday.
Besides Verma and Steel Secretary, the meeting was also attended by senior ministry officials and SAIL Chairman C S Verma.
The company has also put off the proposed roadshows for the FPO, which was slated to begin in Singapore this week.
SAIL is expecting that its prospectus would be cleared by Sebi on a fast-track basis, as it fulfils the criteria of having continuous profits in last three years and a turnover or market capitalisation of over Rs 50,000 crore.
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