Steel Exchange India Ltd. has announced that its board of directors will meet on December 18 to deliberate on a proposal to raise funds through various means. The company plans to raise the funds by issuing eligible securities in one or more tranches, with the fundraising potentially carried out through public and/or private offerings.
The available options for fundraising include a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), preferential issue, or a further public offering (FPO), according to an exchange filing. However, the company noted that any decision will be subject to necessary approvals, including obtaining shareholder consent. To that end, the board will consider calling an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to seek shareholder approval for the proposed fundraise. In a separate development, earlier this month, Steel Exchange India clarified in a filing that its promoter, Umashiv Garments Pvt. Ltd., had cancelled the pledge of over 25 lakh shares (approximately 0.21% of the company’s stake) with a third party. This cancellation occurred because the lender failed to accept the pledge within the specified timeframe.
Steel Exchange India recently reported a decline in its quarterly net profit. For the quarter ending September 30, the company posted a net profit of Rs 2.72 crore, marking a 25.48% drop from Rs 3.65 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal year. On the stock market, Steel Exchange India’s shares closed at Rs 11.14 apiece, down 0.54% on the NSE, underperforming the Nifty 50 index, which saw a smaller decline of 0.13%. Despite the dip in stock price, Steel Exchange India’s stock has shown a 12.5% rise over the past year and a 6.6% increase on a year-to-date basis.