Shipping Corporation of India sets sail on divestment buzz

Shipping Corporation of India rose 4.30% to Rs 203.60 at 14:41 IST on BSE following reports that the Government plans to divest 5% stake in the company through follow-on public offer.

Meanwhile the BSE Sensex was down 23.47 points or 0.14% to 16,195.12

On BSE, 64,075 shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 1.59 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 210.20 and a low of Rs 200 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 332 on 3 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 154 on 22 January 2008.

The mid-cap scrip underperformed the market over the past one month till 25 March 2008, declining 10.77% compared to the Sensex's fall of 8.12%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 22.83% compared to Sensex's decline of 19.69%.

The state-run shipping company's current equity is Rs 282.30 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 203.60 discounts its Q3 December 2007 annualized EPS of Rs 25.05, by a PE multiple of 8.12.

The report estimated that 5% equity divestment in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) would fetch Rs 300 crore based on yesterday's 25 March 2008 closing price of Rs 195.20 on BSE. Government of India holds 80.12% stake in the company.

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)'s net profit declined 22% to Rs 176.78 crore on 11.5% fall in net sales to Rs 915.27 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.

SCI operates and manages a fleet of line vessels, tankers, bulk carriers, passenger vessels and off shore vessels.