Jaiprakash Associates gains on reports Heidelberg to buy UP cement unit

Jaiprakash Associates rose 2.82% to Rs 12.75 at 9:57 IST on BSE on reports the company is close to selling its cement plant in Uttar Pradesh to German major Heidelberg Cement for around Rs 500 crore.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 210.80 points, or 0.77%, to 27,526.97.

On BSE, so far 8.01 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 25.18 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 12.90 and a low of Rs 12.65 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 78.65 on 2 July 2014. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 10.20 on 12 June 2015.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 June 2015, falling 32.79% compared with 1.19% fall in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 51.37% as against Sensex's 4.05% fall.

The mid-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 486.49 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

After having divested its cement plants in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana (Panipat) and Jharkhand (Bokaro) to raise around Rs 10000 crore, debt-laden Jaiprakash Associates is now reportedly close to selling another plant at Sikandarabad in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to German major Heidelberg Cement for around Rs 500 crore.

Jaiprakash Associates' cement grinding unit at Sikandarabad is strategically located in a limestone rich region and has the potential to assist in serving markets in the western belt along with Delhi, reports added.

If the deal materialises, this would be the fifth cement asset sale by the JP Group in little over a year, reports said.

The JP group is reportedly looking to sell assets, including cement and power plants, to pare its hefty debt burden. The aggregate debt of the JP group at the end of financial year ending March 2014 stood at around Rs 55000 crore.

Jaiprakash Associates reported net loss of Rs 806.59 crore in Q4 March 2015 as against net profit of Rs 100.42 crore in Q4 March 2014. Net sales declined 25.66% to Rs 2529.64 crore in Q4 March 2015 over Q4 March 2014.

Jaiprakash Associates is a diversified infrastructure conglomerate with business interests in engineering & construction, cement, power, real estate, expressways, fertilizer, hospitality, healthcare, sports, information technology and education (not-for-profit).

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