Promoters Buy Back 5.90% In Finolex Ind

Finolex Industries has bought back 87.71 lakh shares, accounting for 5.90 per cent of the pre-buyback equity capital of 1486.97 lakh.

The company has so far spent Rs 19.74 crore on buyback as against the provision of Rs 60 crore. The buyback is open till April 2002 or till the Rs 60 crore provision in exhausted.

The open market operation has resulted in a 44 per cent saving for the company as it had offered to buyback at a market price less than Rs 40 per share. Compared with this, the average open market buyback price works out to Rs 22.50 per share.

With the open market operation offering a 44 per cent discount over the intended buyback price, the promoters can now buy back more shares than the proposed 1.50 crore (at the price of Rs 40 a share). Since the promoters have utilised just under Rs 20 crore so far, they can buy an additional 93 lakh shares at the current market price of Rs 26 per share with the remaining Rs 40 crore.

After the current buyback, the promoters have increased their shareholding in the company from 16.15 per cent as on June 30, 2001 to 17.2 per cent as on October 19, 2001.

Meanwhile, the company has allotted five lakh equity shares at par to Finolex Industries Ltd - Employees' Welfare Trust, under the employee stock option scheme during the year.

Due to the insignificant trading volume on the Bangalore and Delhi stock exchanges, promoters have proposed to delist the company's equity shares from these both exchanges. The company's equity shares are also listed at the bourses at Pune and Mumbai and at the National Stock Exchange.