Ge Shipping Promoter Pie Up To 22.42%

Promoters' holding in the Great Eastern Shipping Company (GE Shipping) has increased by 3.28 per cent to 22.42 per cent according to the shareholding pattern filed with the stock exchanges.

Sources in the company said, part of the increase has been through the creeping acquisition route and partly it is a reflection of the first buyback programme. "Shipping business is on a high and we had sufficient idle cash," said sources.

Not so long ago, the promoters of GE Shipping were caught by surprise when Gesco Corporation (the company in which some of GE Shipping's real estate was vested in 1999 as part of a restructuring exercise), then a sister concern of GE Shipping, was faced with a takeover threat from the Dalmias. The Sheths (the promoters) then held a 13 per cent stake in Gesco Corporation and 14 per cent in GE Shipping.

The company sources, however, clarified that while the scaling up of holding through the creeping acquisition route may have been done to avert a similar takeover bid on GE Shipping, the buyback programme has dissimilar motive.

According to the shareholding pattern filed with the stock exchanges, institutional and private corporate bodies' stake in the company has come down. The shareholding pattern of GE Shipping as on December 31, 2001 indicated that promoters hold a 22.42 per cent stake, institutional investor 19.71 per cent, private corporate bodies (PCBs) at 5.05 per cent, NRIs/OCBs (non-resident Indians/ overseas corporate bodies) at 0.61 per cent, global depositary receipts (GDRs) represent 1.55 per cent, International Finance Corporation (IFC) holding at 8.64 per cent and equity held by Indian public 42.02 per cent.

The first buyback commenced in December 2000 and was completed in March 2001. The second buyback plan, which is currently on, commenced in August 2001 and will come to an end on July 25. The maximum buyback price would not exceed Rs 42 per share and the aggregate amount would not exceed Rs 100 crore.

The GE Shipping scrip today closed at Rs 24.25 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and on National Stock Exchange (NSE). Volumes on BSE and NSE were at 2,14,946 and 68,715, respectively.

GE Shipping is a leading Indian shipping and offshore service provider operating in India and globally. With a fleet of 38 cargo-carrying vessels (including the subsidiaries) of 1.6 million DWT (dead weight tonnage).