JSW Steel-promoter companies release pledged shares worth Rs 1,150 crore

June quarter shows higher creation of pledged shares to released pledged shares

At a time when domestic steel sector is witnessing weakness in demand, Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Group, has released 50.7 million pledged shares of JSW Steel worth Rs 1,150 crore.

The move has come amid almost a 50 per cent drop in JSW Steel stock price, which is currently hovering around Rs 217 per share on the BSE, down from the 52-week high of Rs 428 per share.

The release of pledged shares represent 2.09 per cent of the company’s share capital. Three promoter-owned companies — JSW Techno Projects Management, Sahyog Holdings and Vividh Finvest — have released shares of the company.

Currently, JSW Steel carries a consolidated net debt of Rs 47,000 crore amid a Rs 15,000 crore capital expenditure.

As on June 30, JSW Steel’s Promoter & Group pledged share of total equity stands at 20.8 per cent where Promoter & Group stake is 42.4 per cent. 

Meanwhile, brokerages were of the view that the company has created much more pledged shares than released the pledged ones since the last quarter.

While the September quarter data is awaited, in the quarter gone by, JSW Steel released 91.9 million pledged shares and created 146.6 million pledged shares during the same period.