The Hindu Business Line : PTC to float public offer soon

RIDING high on the optimism surrounding the stock markets, Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd (PTC) plans to float its initial public offer by next month. The company will file its offer document with the SEBI next week, a senior PTC official told Business Line.

At a time when power stocks such as BSES and Tata Power are attracting investor interest, PTC hopes to enter the market with an offering of 5.85 crore shares of face value Rs 10 each.

"We are hoping to get SEBI clearances within a fortnight after filing the prospectus. The issue should hit the markets within the next 3-4 weeks," said Mr Rajiv Bhardwaj, Executive Vice-President. The issue size has not yet been determined, he added.

The company plans to tap the markets for raising its paid-up share capital base Rs 74.50 crore now to Rs 150 crore and eventually to Rs 750 crore.

SBI Capital and IDBI are the consultants for the issue.

PTC has been in focus especially since the passing of the Electricity Act 2003, which encourages power trading. The company, which acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of power in India, is expected to use the funds to grow exponentially once trading volumes increase.

PTC is also the nodal agency for the exchange of power between India, Nepal and Bhutan.

It traded 4,178 million units of power in 2002-03, reporting a net profit of Rs 9.84 crore on turnover of Rs 927 crore.

IFC not inclined to invest

THE Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) will not go through with its proposed equity investment of $1.8 million in PTC.

It had planned on picking up a stake in PTC - which it had referred to as "an example of public-private partnership" - before the proposed IPO. "They (IFC) had expressed some reservations about the company' ownership structure, which essentially involves Government-owned companies," said an industry source.

PTC's promoters - NTPC, NHPC, PGCIL, Power Finance Corporation and Damodar Valley Corporation - are all Government-owned with the exception of Tata Power Company.

IFC invests primarily in private sector infrastructure projects. " Although it has not fully ruled out the possibility of investing in PTC at a future date, we will not wait for IFC's nod before the IPO," said a PTC official who confirmed the news.