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ICI India to revise upwards share buyback price

Mumbai, May 17: The board of paints and chemicals maker ICI India Ltd will meet on May 26 to consider a revised share buyback proposal, as the earlier plan did not attract any shareholder interest.

The company said its board will consider buyback of shares at up to Rs 575 a share, compared to its ongoing buyback at up to Rs 350 a share.

“The earlier price became defunct, as the share price moved much ahead of that level,” Company Secretary R Guha said over the telephone on Thursday.

“In practical terms, we are revising the (buyback) price for shareholders. We will also revise the total amount available to shareholders,” he said.

According to the earlier proposal, approved in July 2006, ICI India planned to utilise Rs 12.5 crore of its cash surplus for the buyback, and another Rs 20 crore for capacity augmentation, and to support sales growth.

Since then the company’s cash reserves have swelled through the sale of its advanced refinish business to Asian PPG Industries for Rs 52 crore, and that of its flavour and food ingredients business, Quest India, to the Givaudan group for nearly Rs 39 crore.

“We have cash surplus of nearly 8 billion rupees available at this point,” Guha said. “We will not be utilising all of that. It is an exceptional profit, so we want to share it with shareholders.”

Parent Imperial Chemicals Industries PLC owns 50.83 per cent in ICI India. Shares in the Indian company jumped to a new high of Rs 543, and were trading at Rs 538.75, up 7.2 per cent in a strong Mumbai market.

Source : zeenews.com

Add comment May 17th, 2007

India aims to double chemical trade with China

India aims to double chemical trade with China

NEW DELHI: India aims to double its trade in chemicals with China within a year and to increase its share of Chinese organic chemical market from the current 0.9 per cent to two per cent in the next two years.

There is tremendous potential for increasing organic chemical exports to China, director at the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals Harmeet S Singh said on Monday, adding, India’s share in the China’s organic chemical market was expected to go up from the current 0.9 per cent to 2.0 per cent in two years.

“India is among the 20 top organic chemicals exporters to China and currently holds less than 2.0 per cent of the Chinese organic chemicals market share,” she said.

Singh, who was speaking at the CII-organised China Chemical meet in New Delhi, said in the first quarter of the current fiscal organic chemical exports from India grew by 21 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2003-04.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed on the occasion between the CII and the Shanghai Chemical Industry Association (SCIANET) to promote industry to industry cooperation between the two countries.

According to industry estimates, the trade in chemicals between India and China registered about 50 per cent growth in 2003-04 at 1.5 billion dollar as against one billion dollar in the previous year.

“The chemicals trade between the two countries is growing at a high speed and the MoU is certainly going to facilitate it and take the total value of trade to about three billion dollar by the end of next fiscal,” said S N Singh of the Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association

Add comment February 9th, 2007