NTPC loses sparkle on FPO blues

The stock finally ended near the day's low at Rs 206 - down 2.5% from the previous close. Around 8.23 lakh shares were traded on the BSE today.
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(Updated at 1011 hrs)

NTPC slides after the government announced the floor price for divesting a 5% stake in the power utility company. The benchmark price for the further public offer (FPO) has been fixed at Rs 201 per equity share, which is at a discount of about 5% to the prevailing market price.

The public sector power firm is trading lower by Rs 3 or 1.5% to Rs 207 on the BSE. The stock had opened at Rs 212 and has touched a high of Rs 213 and a low of Rs 206 thus far, accompanied with trading volumes of 2.51 lakh crore shares.

The government is aiming to mop up Rs 8,286 crore from the sale of 41.22 crore shares of NTPC and thereby reduce its stake to 84.5% from the existing 89.5%. The minimum lot size for the bid would be 28 equity shares and multiples thereafter. The proposed follow-on public offer (FPO) is scheduled to open on February 3.

The Centre has already raised Rs 4,200 crore and Rs 2,770 crore from the divestment of NHPC and Oil India respectively.