Moser Baer Solar first to achieve Rs 100 crore business in its segment within 9 months…

 

Moser Baer Solar Ltd. (MBSL), country's largest integrated solar PV manufacturing and India's #1 Solar EPC company, a subsidiary of Moser Baer India Ltd. has crossed more than Rs 100 crore PV module sales in the highly competitive Japan market during April-December 2013.

MBSL has been exporting solar PV modules to Japan for last 4 years and the volume of shipments has increased significantly in last 9 months. Japan's solar market is growing exponentially, driven by their focus on using renewable energy.

Vivek Chaturvedi, Chief Marketing Officer, Moser Baer Solar said, "Japan traditionally is amongst the world's most quality conscious markets and we are proud to have established an Indian brand in high technology space here. This reiterates India's capability to develop, manufacture and deliver world class products across categories globally. The opportunity is big and we look forward to further our commitments in Japan's journey towards promoting clean energy. A strong quality focus, and our understanding of Japan market sensitivities in general and Japan solar PV business in specific has resulted in this significant growth in shipments."

The earliest installation in Japan using Moser Baer Solar PV Modules is now almost three years old, performing at consistently better levels than estimated by the owners. Moser Baer Solar Elite PV Modules are already popular with Japan's biggest Solar EPC companies and Developers.

MBSL Elite Series products today meet international standards including UL, IEC, CE, JIS Q8901, MCS, and having listing under CEC, etc required to sell products across the globe. Furthermore, the company expects to be able to continue to reduce its production costs further through improved system processes and increased efficiencies.

Shares of Moser Baer India Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs.3.69, up by Rs.0.03 or 0.82%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.3.79 and intraday low of Rs.3.55.

The total traded quantity was 0.97 lakh shares as compared to 2 week average of 3.26 lakh shares.

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GVK Power: Hopes of debt reduction priced in…

 

GVK Power & Infrastructure has gained investors’ interest recently following news of the company’s plans to monetise assets in the coal and airport verticals.

The recent completion of the new terminal at the Mumbai airport has further fuelled hopes that the company’s debt burden will ease. Though a lot of this is driven by hopes, analysts are cautious because at present there are many issues and its resolution may not happen soon, which could have a bearing on GVK’s share price.

"Notwithstanding improvements in operating performance of airport and road assets, GVK’s cash flow concerns are expected to exacerbate due to incremental funding needs for financing cost overruns. High debt burden and the need to retire acquisition debt are other issues which GVK has to face," said Shankar K, who tracks the company at Edelweiss Securities in a research note.

In fact, analysts are not falling for the stock’s cheap valuations at this point in time as they believe some of the issues are far more risky from the investors’ perspective. "We highlight that higher leverage, Hancock (coal business based in Australia) and overhang in power vertical would continue to weigh on the stock despite attractive valuations," said Deepak Purswani, who is tracking the company at ICICI Securities.

After the completion of terminal 2 at the Mumbai Airport, the market has started to look for the monetisation of the adjourning land bank. Monetisation of the land bank would be crucial for retiring some of GVK’s debt, which has been the biggest concern for the investors for quite some time now. Earlier, the company received interest from about 23 parties for the monetisation of the 1.8 million square feet of land of Mumbai International Airport (MIAL). The analysts are expecting this monetisation to fetch around Rs 1,200-1,500 crore, which may not be sufficient given the huge debt of over Rs 18,500 crore in the company’s books. However, it could kick-start the monetisation programme and would provide the much required liquidity in the interim.

The company had earlier said that it plans to monetise assets in the coal, power and airport businesses. However, looking at the issues in the power and coal businesses, the Street is banking on the monetisation of airport-related assets, which now should be easier given that the asset has become operational. Also, this vertical is currently making profits and that will enable the company to get good valuations. The book value of GVK's stake in the airport business alone is estimated to be worth over Rs 3,000 crore, including Rs 2,200 crore for the Mumbai Airport. How much the company is able to command from investors for these assets will determine the quantum of debt reduction. Analysts though are still cautious.

"Even in airport business, considering the current valuations, it would not fetch much money and if the company sells a large stake, it will have nothing in its portfolio to talk about," said an analyst with the leading broking house.

The issue of debt reduction is crucial, especially in the light of tight liquidity and weak cash flows from the operations. In the September quarter, the company incurred interest cost of Rs 213 crore on an operating profit of Rs 299 crore indicating very less leeway in terms of disposable profits for repaying debt. Even then, the Street was worried about how the company was going to repay its debt and service interest cost in the light of losses in the power business and constraint cash flows.

The power segment employs Rs 10,755 crore of capital and generates quarterly sale of Rs 96.06 crore. It’s over 900 mw of gas-based power generation capacity is currently operating at about 20-30%, and is not even able to recover the costs and service the debt. The market has written off the equity invested in these projects, which are suffering due to the lack of gas availability and because of the losses. In fact, analysts worry if the problem of the gas availability is not resolved, the debt taken for the power projects could have their bearing on the overall business of the company. However, with news about a possible increase in India’s gas availability doing the rounds, there is a ray of hope. If things improve for GVK, these assets should see better output and consequently also see an improvement in financial performance and valuations.

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Reliance Power up 3% as CBI likely to close enquiry in Sasan project...

 

Shares of Reliance Power today rose by nearly 3 per cent on the possibility of CBI closing its preliminary enquiry to probe coal block allocation to a power project in Sasan in Madhya Pradesh run by Anil Ambani's firm.

Reacting to this, Reliance Power's scrip went up by 2.89 per cent to Rs 74.7 on the BSE.

On the NSE, the stock rose by 2.89 per cent to Rs 74.70. The CBI is of the view that the allocation is a policy decision vetted by group of ministers.

CBI sources said it has come to light that use of surplus coal from the Sasan UMPP was approved on two separate occasions by two EGoMs. They said since it was a policy decision, CBI was not likely to question it.

However, they added that any final decision has not been taken over the closure and any such decision can only be taken after taking into consideration the views of the Supreme Court.

The sources said they have informed the Supreme Court about the preliminary enquiry in their status report and agency would proceed according to further directions of the apex court.

After the registration of the preliminary enquiry, ADAG spokesperson had said in a statement that "we welcome the independent time-bound enquiries by the CBI, monitored by the Supreme Court, which will clearly establish our bonafides".

It will "once and for all prove beyond doubt that we have been the unfortunate victims of a mischievous campaign of calumny and vilification conducted at the behest of our unscrupulous corporate rivals over the past 5 years," the statement said.

The allocation of coal mines to the Sasan project was done to a 100 percent government-owned company in the year 2006 when Reliance Power had not even won the project, it said adding the government disinvested its shares to Reliance pursuant to a global tender in the year 2007.

The preliminary enquiry was registered on the directions of the Supreme Court that had asked the CBI to probe 14 issues including supply of low floor buses by Tata motors to Tamil Nadu government, grant of spectrum and alleged market manipulations and hammering of stocks by Unitech.

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EuroPacific Growth Fund raises Power Grid stake to over 5%...

 

EuroPacific Growth Fund, one of the largest shareholders in Power Grid, has hiked its stake in the state-run utility to 5.4 per cent after acquiring additional shares through the open market.

The Foreign Institutional Investor has increased its shareholding in Power Grid to 5.419 per cent from 4.681 per cent, according to a regulatory filing today.

The entity acquired about 3.9 crore shares, making up for around 0.738 per cent stake in the power transmission firm. These scripts were acquired through open market on December 19, the filing said.

At the end of September quarter, EuroPacific Growth Fund had 3.91 per cent stake in the company.

Earlier this month, Power Grid sold 78.70 crore shares through a Follow on Public Offer (FPO). It included a fresh issue of 60.18 crore equities and sale of over 18.51 crore scrips by the government.

Shares of Power Grid closed flat at Rs 99.55 on the BSE.

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HCC bags order worth Rs 15.97 bn from THDC India for Hydro Power Project...

 

Hindustan Construction Company bagged contract worth Rs 15.97 billion from THDC India to construct Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric power project in Chamoli district of Uttrakhand.

This is an EPC contract (engineering, procurement and construction) for civil works, hydro-mechanical works including penstock steel liner of the hydro electric power project. The project will be completed in 54 months.

Shares of the company gained Rs 0.44, or 3.26%, to trade at Rs 13.93. The total volume of shares traded was 401,319 at the BSE (11.08 a.m., Monday).

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NHPC completes Rs 2,368 Crore share buyback...

 

State-run NHPC has bought back equity worth Rs 2,368 crore under an offer that ended earlier this month after attracting more shares than targeted.

NHPC bought back 123 crore equity shares at Rs 19.25 apiece, the company said today in a public announcement. More than 142.6 crore shares were tendered in the offer, which started on November 29 and closed on December 12.

The company purchased 110.7 crore shares worth more than Rs 2,130 crore from the government, equivalent to 90 per cent of the buyback. The government's stake in the company was reduced to 85.96 per cent from 86.36 per cent.

The government plans to raise Rs 40,000 crore from the sale of shares in this financial year.

The hydro-electricity generator was listed on the stock exchanges in 2009 after the government divested a 5 per cent stake and the company issued fresh shares equivalent to 10 per cent of its equity.

NHPC has a generation capacity of 5,702 MW from 17 hydro-electric stations in the country. Seven plants with a combined capacity of 4,095 MW capacity are under construction.

NHPC shares closed at Rs 18.70, up 1.36 per cent, on the BSE on Friday.

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CARE downgrades GVK Power to 'BBB+'...

 

Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) has downgraded the long-term bank facilities rating of GVK Power & Infrastructure from 'A-' to 'BBB+' aggregating to Rs 4.25 billion.

CARE has also downgraded the long/ short-term bank facilities rating from 'A-/ A2' to 'BBB+/ A3+' aggregating to Rs 1.20 billion (reduced from Rs 2 billion) of the company.

The revision in the ratings of GVK Power and Infrastructure (GVKPIL) takes into consideration deterioration in financial performance of the company during FY13 (FY refers to the period April 1 to March 31) and H1FY14, decline in operating performance of gas based power plants of the group, deterioration in capital structure of the company and delay in execution of projects under implementation in the hydro and thermal energy segments.

The ratings continue to derive strength from the experience of the promoters and management team, track record of successful execution of projects, well-diversified portfolio of assets under operation and development and long term growth prospects for the infrastructure sector.

The ratings, however, continue to be constrained by high investment commitments of subsidiaries and step down subsidiaries, inherent risk associated with development of greenfield infrastructure projects and exposure to the subsidiaries and other group companies in the form of corporate guarantees.

The ability of the company to raise funds in a timely manner, improve capital structure and meet equity commitments of group companies, as per the schedule without any further deterioration in the financial risk profile are the key rating sensitivities.

Shares of the company declined Rs 0.03, or 0.36%, to settle at Rs 8.25. The total volume of shares traded was 1,096,235 at the BSE (Friday).

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NTPC pre-closes Rs 1,750-crore tax-free bond issue today...

 

State-run National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) said on Thursday it has pre-closed its Rs 1,750-crore bond issue which received a good response from investors by getting over-subscribed 3.3 times.

"The Company has exercised the option of early closure of its public issue of tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds which was opened on December 3 and was scheduled to close on December 16. The issue will now close today," NTPC said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.

The issue was oversubscribed 3.3 times on Tuesday as against Rs 1,000 crore, the company has already collected about Rs 3,310 crore, Rs 2,310 crore above the base size.

This is the state-run company's first bond issue after a gap of over 20 years.

Under the offer, the company issued tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds.

The base issue size aggregates to Rs 1,000 crore with an option to retain over-subscription up to Rs 750 crore for issuance of additional bonds, aggregating up to Rs 1,750 crore.

The funds raised through the issue would be utilised towards funding of capital expenditure and refinancing for meeting the debt requirement in ongoing projects.

ICICI Securities, A K Capital Services, Axis Capital, SBI Capital Markets and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company were the book-running lead managers of the issue.

Currently, NTPC has a capacity of over 42,000 MW and targets to add about 14,000 MW to its total capacity by the end of 2016-17.

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RInfra to merge transmission line cos with itself...

 

Reliance Infrastructure's board today approved the merger of its two wholly owned subsidiaries--Western Region Transmission Gujarat and Western Region Transmission Maharashtra, with itself.

This merger is subject to requisite approvals.

Both these companies combined are building power transmission lines of around 1,600 kilometers.

 

While Gujarat has three lines under it, Maharashtra has six lines. “Out of the nine lines, seven of them are already operational,” Reliance Infra said in a results press release, last month.

The company's stock fell 1.2% in today's trade to close at Rs 425, as per data available on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

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Power Grid’s share sale fully covered...

 

A $1.1 billion (about Rs.6,2853 crore) share sale in state-run Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd was fully covered on Wednesday, the second day of the offering, provisional data from the stock exchanges showed.

By 3.24pm, the share sale had received bids for 788.5 million shares, most of them from local funds and foreign institutional investors.

Details of the price of bids was not immediately available. The company has set a price band of Rs.85 to Rs.90 per share for the offer, with a discount ofRs.4.5 for retail bidders and employees.

The 787.05 million share follow-on offering comprises of a 4% stake sale by the government, and fresh issue of 601.9 million shares by the company to raise funds for capital expenditure on transmission projects.

The issue closes on Thursday for institutional buyers and on Friday for other investors.

Source: Livemint & Reuters

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NTPC's tax-free bond issue oversubscribed 3.3 times...

 

State-run power major,  NTPC on Tuesday received an overwhelming response for its bond issue by garnering Rs 3,310 crore, much ahead of its scheduled closing. "The issue was oversubscribed by 3.3 times.

As against Rs 1,000 crore, NTPC has already collected about Rs 3,310 crore, Rs 2,310 crore above the base size," the company said in a statement.

The tax-free bond issue which opened on Monday was earlier scheduled to close on December 16 but will formally close Wednesday, a company official said.

This is the state-run company's first bond issue after a gap of over 20 years. Under the offer, the company issued tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds. The base issue size aggregates to Rs 1,000 crore with an option to retain over-subscription up to Rs 750 crore for issuance of additional bonds, aggregating up to Rs 1,750 crore.

The funds raised through the issue would be utilised towards funding of capital expenditure and refinancing for meeting the debt requirement in ongoing projects.

The company in the statement said the QIB (Qualified Institutional Buyers) oversubscribed by 4.2 times, garnering Rs 423 crore against allocation of Rs 100 crore. "Corporates contributed Rs 1,374 crore against allocation of Rs 250 crore, oversubscribed by 5.5 times," the statement said, adding that HNI (High Networth Individuals) also chipped in with Rs 851 crore against allocation of Rs 250 crore and over-subscription of 3.4 times.

The company, last month, filed a prospectus with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Delhi and Haryana in connection with its proposed public issue of tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds, NTPC said.

The lead managers to the issue are ICICI Securities, A K Capital Services, Axis Capital, SBI Capital Markets and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.

Currently, NTPC has a capacity of nearly 42,000 MW and targets to add about 14,000 MW to its total capacity by the end of 2016-17.

Shares of NTPC closed at Rs 145.70 apiece, down 1.09 per cent on the BSE.

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Coal India achieves 93% of target production in Nov'13...

 

Coal India (CIL), an Indian state-controlled coal mining company, has achieved 39.20 million tones of coal production for November 2013, which was 93% of target production of 41.93 million tones.

 

CIL achieved actual offtake of 38.76 million tones for November 2013, which was 93% of target production of 41.65 million tones for November 2013.

Shares of the company gained Rs 1.6, or 0.59%, to trade at Rs 273.20. The total volume of shares traded was 40,118 at the BSE (12.32 p.m., Monday).

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Valecha Engineering Limited bags Project in Himachal Pradesh in the Hydro Power Tunnelling Segment...

 

Valecha Engineering Limited has recently bagged a project from NHPC Ltd worth Rs. 176.29 crores for construction of balance civil works of head race tunnel by DBM, Associated Works and HM Works (Lot PB2B) of Parbati HE Project Stage II in Himachal Pradesh.

With this project, the tunnelling segment constitutes 10% of the order book of the company.

Shares of Valecha Engineering Limited was last trading in BSE at Rs.34.45, down by Rs.1.25 or 3.50%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.36.50 and low of Rs.34.10.

The total traded quantity was 0.11 lakhs as compared to 2 week average of 0.33 lakhs.

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NHPC’s Rs 2,368 cr share buyback to begin from Nov 29...

 

NHPC’s buyback of shares worth up to Rs 2,368 crore will start from November 29 and aims at funding the country’s largest hydro power producer’s expansion plans.

 

“The (buyback) process will commence on November 29 and will be concluded on December 12,” said a source.

 

The company plans to buyback up to 123,00,74,277 fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 19.25 apiece aggregating Rs 2,368 crore from the open market.

Government holds 86.36 per cent stake in NHPC.

The company got listed on bourses in 2009 after the government divested 5 per cent stake. It has also issued 10 per cent fresh equity.

Overall, the government plans to raise Rs 40,000 crore in the current financial year (2013-14) through disinvestment.

NHPC generates 5,702 MW electricity from 17 hydel stations in the country. As many as seven power stations totaling 4,095 MW capacity are under construction.

The company’s scrip closed at Rs 17.65, down 1.67 per cent, on the BSE.

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Indowind Energy honours $6.5-million FCCBs...

 

Indowind Energy Limited, a Chennai-based company that sells ready-to-buy wind farm projects to corporates and green power to corporates and electricity boards, has honoured foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) amounting $6.5 million (approximately Rs 40.4 crore) and cancelled the same.

With this, the total cancelled FCCBs amount to $15 million, which is 50% of the original issue size $30 million, the company said in a filing to the BSE on Thursday.

In August 2010, the board of directors of the company had approved the restructuring of $30 million FCCB bonds for conversion with a floor price of Rs 48.90 up to a maximum of Rs. 65 per share, based on Sebi guidelines.

The proposed restructuring, would help the company to increase the net worth, reduce contingent redemption liability and improve the debt-equity ratio for the growth of the company, it had said.  

The board, at its meeting in May 2012, had discussed and reviewed the FCCB issue and the on going 28-Mw windfarms project in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It also decided to explore the possibilities for raising an additional $30 million through euro convertible bonds (ECBs) to meet the gap in funding the project, which would be about $10 million and the balance $20 million for clearing the existing long-term loans and FCCB obligations as per the restructured terms.

Indowind Energy’s scrip is currently trading at Rs 3.55 on the BSE, up 0.28%, over the previous close of Rs 3.54 a share.

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Roadshows for Coal India's 5% stake sale begin...

 

Coal India  is the biggest loser on the Nifty, shedding around 1 percent in intraday on Monday. The world's largest coal miner starts off its second round of roadshows for the 5 percent stake sale and will continue till November 26.

The government will hold roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia from next week.

Earlier, investors have expressed concern over the lack of an appropriate regulatory regime for the sector as well as the long pending restructuring of this public sector behemoth. Investors are particularly concerned over the pricing power of Coal India and what impact the proposed regulatory architecture would have on that ability.

The stock had fallen around 5 percent on Thursday after reporting September quarter results. Its consolidated net profit dropped to Rs 3,052.36 crore for the July-September quarter as expenses rose. posted a profit of Rs 3,078.08 crore in the second quarter a year earlier.

Net sales rose 5.75 percent to Rs 15,411.49 crore from Rs 14,572.54 crore. At 10:55 hrs, the stock was quoting at Rs 271.95, down Rs 2.50, or 0.91 percent on the NSE.

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NTPC's Farakka Super thermal power project starts imported coal movement...

 

NTPC rose 0.82% to Rs 154 at 9:35 IST on BSE after the company said that the company's Farakka Super Thermal Power Station in West Bengal had started the movement of imported coal by barges through inland waterway.

The announcement was made during trading hours today, 18 November 2013.

NTPC's Farakka Super Thermal Power Station in West Bengal had started the movement of imported coal by barges through inland waterway.

The first set of 3 barges carrying about 1,500 tonnes each of imported coal has berthed near Farakka station on 13 November 2013. NTPC said it will transport 3 MMTPA of coal through inland waterway to Farakka station for 7 years.

NTPC's net profit declined 20.7% to Rs 2492.90 crore on 0.9% growth in net sales to Rs 16272.27 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.

NTPC, India's largest power company, has presence in the entire value chain of power generation business. The Government of India (GoI) holds 75% stake in NTPC (as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 September 2013).

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Fuel cost saps margins of Reliance Power...

 

A 30 per cent rise in fuel cost at Rs 827 crore (Rs 637 crore in the previous year quarter) brought down the margins of Reliance Power for the September quarter.

This is despite the company clocking higher revenues and its 1,200 MW Rosa Plant in Uttar Pradesh logging 90 per cent plant availability.

Apart from the Rosa Plant, its 40 MW Dhursar solar PV plant in Rajasthan operated at 20 per cent and its 45 MW wind project in Vashpet, Maharashtra, logged 33 per cent plant load factor.

RPower said the progress at the second unit of 660 MW of 4,000 MW Sasan plant is on track and the unit is likely to be commissioned this month.

Its 100 MW concentrated solar power plant at Dhursar in Rajasthan is expected to be commissioned this fiscal.

On Monday, the R Power scrip closed 2.46 per cent lower at Rs 73.40 on BSE.

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BHEL: Order flows may improve, but concerns remain...

 

BHEL’s performance for the September quarter has been disappointing. Even after adjusting for the Rs 191-crore one-time cost (predominantly wage-related expenses) on merger of Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels Plant, net profits have almost halved from the levels (Rs 1,274 crore) achieved during the same quarter last year.

Besides, forex translation gains to the extent of Rs 365 crore, arising from deferred debts in overseas projects have also boosted the existing profits.

OUTLOOK

Though the company received about Rs 3,000 crore worth of orders during the quarter, orders in its power segment were predominantly only from the spares and services group, reflecting the weak investment scenario in the country.

The slower execution is visible in the lacklustre operating margins, which came in at 4.5 per cent, compared to 17.9 per cent a year ago.

The order flows may be slightly better in the months to come.

In the power segment, after a lull, the company has bagged an order worth Rs 2,569 crore for steam generators from Neyveli Lignite Corporation in October

With the Cabinet Committee on Investments speeding up clearances in power projects in recent times, the company could stand to gain on two fronts.

It could help speed up execution of stalled projects for which the company has already bagged the equipment orders, for instance, the 4,120-MW boiler package from Jindal Power.

Secondly, it could also help the company bag orders for newly cleared projects such as the Tilaiya UMPP.

The company expects tenders for 15,000 MW to get finalised from now onwards to March. Besides, orders for the 13th Five Year Plan is also expected to come in from FY-15 onwards.

But the risk of slowed execution, payment delays from customers and stretched working capital positions remain.

 

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Reliance Power to start second unit of Sasan plant next month...

 

Reliance Power will commission the second 660 MW unit of its ultra mega power project at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh next month.

The second unit at the coal-fired plant will be tested this month and will become operational next month, a company executive told PTI.

The Sasan project is the first of three 4,000 mega watt plants that Reliance Power is building. The first 660 MW unit at Sasan was commissioned in March.

"Boiler light-up has been achieved for the second 660 MW unit at the Sasan UMPP," the company said today in a statement.

Coal production has started from the 20 million tonne per annum capacity Moher and Moher-Amlohri mines allotted to the power project, according to the statement.

Reliance Power is setting up UMPPs at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tilaiya in Jharkhand.

Two 600 MW units of the company's Rosa thermal power project are operational.

Reliance Power shares traded at Rs 75.45, up 1.14 per cent, in the afternoon on the BSE.

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