Ibp Hopes To Be Debt-Free Before Selloff

IBP Ltd expects the Central government to pay up the nearly Rs 350 crore owed to the company and make it near debt-free before divestment.

The oil ministry is considering issue of bonds to liquidate the Rs 13,000 crore oil pool deficit payable to oil companies, but IBP is likely to get cash owing to the disinvestment pressure, top IBP sources said.

The government has received feedback from 12 bidders for the 33.58 per cent equity share in IBP, along with management control.

"IBP's due is negligible compared with the three other oil majors. We hope the government would square off our dues upfront before financial bids are called in November," sources added.

The other public sector oil companies are Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL).

The other issue holding up the IBP privatisation is the lack of a clear cut policy for the post-APM (administered price mechanism) era. At present, every aspect in the petroleum sector is controlled, including the right to set up new outlets and their locations.

But the core issue confronting the finance and oil ministries is settlement of dues in the oil pool account. The payment methodology and timing would be a crucial factor in the oil sector reform process.

A debt-free IBP is expected to lead to better valuation. IBP expects to get Rs 350 crore from OCC (Oil coordination committee), but has to pay nearly Rs 380 crore to OIDB (Oil Industry Development Board). In the last financial year, IBP paid off Rs 238.18 crore to OIDB.

If IBP gets its dues from OCC, it can pay off the OIDB dues and improve the debt equity ratio considerably. This would improve cash flow as well. In 2000-1, IBP's debt equity ratio came down to 1.19:1 from 1.83:1 in 1999-00.