KIOCL freezes at 10% upper circuit as Board to mull share buyback

The board will meet on Monday, October 19, 2020 to consider the proposal for buy back of fully paid-up equity shares of the company

Shares of KIOCL (Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited) were locked in the 10 per cent upper circuit band at Rs 141.95 on the BSE on Wednesday after the company said its board will meet on Monday, October 19, to consider share buyback proposal.

Till 02:46 pm, a combined 273,000 equity shares had changed hands on the NSE and BSE and there were pending buy orders for around 47,000 shares, exchange data shows.

"The meeting of board of directors of the company will be held on Monday, October 19, 2020, inter-alia to consider the proposal for buy back of fully paid-up equity shares of the company," KIOCL said in exchange filing.

KIOCL is a state-owned company engaged in iron & steel and intermediate products. The government held 99.06 per cent stake in the company, while the remaining 0.94 per cent or 5.87 million shares are with the public shareholders. Of these public sharegolders, 0.47 per cent holding is with individual shareholders.

Further, being a zero debt company with satisfactory equity base and pool of technical manpower, the company has envisaged a CAPEX of Rs 3,553 crore towards various long term/short term expansion/diversifications plans.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved the disinvestment of 15 per cent equity shares of KIOCL by Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). Accordingly, the board of the Company at its meeting held on 06/08/2019 had approved the same," it said.

According to the company's 2019-20 annual report, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Ministry of Finance, had appointed intermediaries for carrying out the FPO. To review the status of FPO, a Meeting was held on November 15, 2019 where it was concluded to reschedule the timelines for filing of the Draft Red Herring prospectus (DRHP), for which the Book Running Lead Manager (BRLM) would prepare a revised timeline, post appointment of requisite number of Independent Directors on the Board of the Company. 

In the past six months, the stock has rallied 109 per cent, as compared to 32 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. It hit a 52-week high of Rs 169.50 on August 20, 2020.