Abhishek Securities

In a bid to dispose of its iron ore stockpile, the Goa Government has decided to engage State-owned metal scrap trading firm MSTC Ltd for the e-auction of 3.9 million tonnes (mt) unaccounted and confiscated iron ore. This would be the first sale of iron ore in Goa since October 2012 after the State Government and the Supreme Court banned mining and the sale of the mineral. Formal communication MSTC Chairman and Managing Director SK Tripathi confirmed to  Business Line  on Friday that the State Government formally conveyed the decision to the company last week. ‘Illegally extracted’ ore The State Government confiscated 3.9 mt of unclaimed or unrecorded ore stock at different places in the past few months and placed the details before the court, said sources. This “illegally extracted” iron ore quantity would be put up for e-auction first. The apex court in October last year had also allowed e-auction of 11.48 mt of ore inventories with clear ownership. This auct...

The Mideast Integrated Steels Ltd (MISL) has planned to raise external commercial borrowing to the tune of $ 500 million to fund the brown-field expansion of the steel plant. The borrowing process will start in next financial year for raising the plant’s capacity from 1.2 MTPA to 3.5 MTPA in two phases, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the company Rita Singh said here on Friday. The company is hopeful of good rating by the credit rating agency which would enable it to raise this kind of funding, Singh said adding that MISL enjoys debt free status from banking and financial institutions. The construction will start the moment environmental clearance for the expansion is granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The State Government has already recommended for grant of environment clearance after completion of public hearing at Kalinga Nagar. The flagship company of Mesco Steel Group has also identified some steel companies in Odisha as acquisition targets, Singh said....

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB), which has been declaring a high level of dividends to its shareholders, has not paid dividend  to the tune of Rs 70 crore to its shareholders, as four annual general meetings (AGM) of the bank were not held due to legal disputes between the shareholders. Shareholders from the bank said since AGMs for 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 were not held, the bank did not pay dividend to the tune of Rs 70 crore to them. The AGMs were not held since shareholders, including foreign institutional investors (FIIs), are fighting over voting rights at various courts. The latest development is that FII holdings to the tune of 32 per cent had been frozen by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court and recently, one of the shareholders filed a petition at the Madras High Court related to the tenure of additional directors in the bank. Sandip Ginodia , Director ABHISHEK SECURITIES We deal in over 60 unlisted companies with 15 years of experience . For...

The Indian Express reported that at a time when the country is leaving no stones unturned to boost exports and bring down current account deficit, Essar Steel is unable to execute a USD 6 billion steel products export deal as the domestic general insurers are reluctant to provide cover to the deal. Such a cover is necessary for the deal to ensure that if overseas buyers fail to pay the export proceeds, the banks which will be funding the deal can recover the amount from insurance companies. Without such a cover, banks and financial institutions will be hesitant to take up financing big export deals. According to industry sources, Essar had approached state-owned Export Credit Guarantee Corporation which has a monopoly in providing such covers but the latter responded with reluctance. A senior ECGC official said that “We were not comfortable with the idea taking up such a big export deal. If we take such a huge cover, it will exceed our exposure norms.” For export credit insurance for ...

New Indian Express reported that the Mideast Integrated Steels Limited has planned to raise external commercial borrowing to the tune of USD 500 million to fund the brown field expansion of the steel plant. Ms Rita Singh CMD of the company said that “The borrowing process will start in next financial year for raising the plant’s capacity from 1.2 million tonne per annum to 3.5 million tonne per annum in 2 phases.” She said that “The company is hopeful of good rating by the credit rating agency which would enable it to raise this kind of funding, MISL enjoys debt free status from banking and financial institutions. The construction will start the moment environmental clearance for the expansion is granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The State Government has already recommended for grant of environment clearance after completion of public hearing at Kalinga Nagar.” Ms Singh said that “The flagship company of Mesco Steel Group has also identified some steel companies in O...

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has started the process of finding a new Managing Director and Chief Executive in view of the incumbent K.B. Nagendramurthy’s approaching retirement in June. Nagendramurthy, who took over the reins in July 2012, told  Business Line  he is not keen on seeking an extension.His predecessor A.K. Jagannathan demitted office in May 2012, before completing the two-year term, citing health reasons.

Tata Sons has shortlisted candidates for the group chief finance officer (CFO)’s position. The board has been without a finance director in the executive role after Ishaat Hussain became a non-executive director in September at the age of 65. “The shortlisted candidates are not from the group but from outside,” said a source. “The new chief finance officer will have broader responsibility to oversee the group’s mergers and acquisitions,” the person. Earlier, Arunkumar Gandhi was the chief deal maker for the group. He retired last year. “These matters are internal to the company. As and when we have an announcement to make, we will inform you,” said a Tata Group spokesperson.

Even as there is talk of UK telecom giant Vodafone buying out Tata Teleservices (TTSL), the Tata group's holding company Tata Sons  pumped close to Rs 2,400 crore  into it last week by way of convertible preference shares.  The move is aimed at infusing liquidity into the telecom arm, whose capital has been completely eroded.  Tata Teleservices has an equity capital of Rs 4,712 crore as  against accumulated losses  of Rs 6,575 crore for the year ending March 2013. In fiscal year 2012/13, the company reported a turnover of Rs 10,859 crore with a net loss of Rs 4,858 crore.  Banking sources say the additional capital from the promoters was necessary to get any further debt funding from the banks.  But the additional funding from majority shareholder Tata Sons which  holds 36.17 per cent in TTSL, has come with a rider. "The conversion of preference capital into equity will take place before the 24 month maturity period if there is a merger of T...