Suzlon stocks jump 17% on CDR approval

Shares of Suzlon Energy zoomed a whopping 17 per cent today after the empowered group of the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell approved a proposal for domestic debt restructuring.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company’s stock closed at Rs 21.10 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 21.30. The counter was among the top four gainers in today’s trade. Suzlon’s domestic lenders, a consortium of 19 banks, approved the company’s CDR package of Rs 9,500 crore ($1.8 billion).

In a statement to the stock exchanges, the company said, “The package includes a two-year moratorium on principal and term-debt interest payments; a three per cent reduction in interest rates; six-month moratorium on working capital interest; as part of the package Rs 1,500 crore will be converted into equity or equity-linked instrument over the next two years to bring stronger financial stability and a 10-year door-to-door back-ended repayment plan.” The group’s promoters will also bring equity to the extent of Rs 250 crore into the company in stipulated time, of which Rs 62 crore has already been infused.

Stocks of Suzlon, which have long been reeling under pressure, tasted a 52-week low of Rs 14.75. In financial year 2011-12, the the company posted a net loss of Rs 505 crore.

The situation worsened in FY13 as the first two quarters of the year (April-September) saw the company posting a loss of close to Rs 1,150 crore.

Kirti Vagadia, chief financial officer of Suzlon Group, said by this CDR package, the company will return to a position of stability and confidence to its customers, vendors and employees.

Suzlon Group is the world’s fifth largest wind turbine supplier. Headquartered in Pune, Suzlon has operations in 32 countries with installations of over 20,000 megawatts of power.