Gujarat NRE Coke, the country’s largest independent coke producer, is considering issuance of equity shares with differential voting rights (DVR) shares to the existing shareholders on a rights basis in the ratio of one DVR share per 300 existing equity shares at the price of Rs 1000 a share. Each share will command a premium of Rs 990, according a company statement.
The issuance of shares has been planned to raise capital, which will partly meet the company’s financing plan for setting up a new one million tonne a year coke oven plant at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
Gujarat NRE, which is currently riding the crest of a global coking coal price upsurge, has also mooted a bonus issue in the ratio of 2:5 expected to be passed by the shareholders at the annual general meeting next week . The bonus issue may come sometimes towards the end of October after its approval by the board, the company statement said.
Coke price, which was hovering at around Rs. 6000 ? 8000 a tonne in December 2006, has gone up substantially in the range of Rs 30,000 – 35,000 a tonne in the current quarter.
China, which dominates the global market in the commodity and benchmarks its price around the world, is steadily moving towards a regime of curtailed supplies. For this, China has already raised export duty on met coke from 25% to 40% in
August this year, which has lead to a further supply crunch and consequent price rise.