Buyback quotation hits Reliance Energy

DALAL STREET SPIKES

The market was patently disappointed with Reliance Energy's maximum buy-back price at Rs 525 per share and showed it by hammering the stock.

The buy-back price is lower than the company's current stock price. The stock which had opened at Rs 565, went down to a low of Rs 516.55 and finally closed at Rs 540.05, down by 3.67 per cent. Volumes on the counter were of the order of 11.76 lakh shares on the BSE.

The company has set aside a sum of Rs 350 crore for the buy-back programme, which will be done through open market purchases. Dealers said that the market had already got wind of the buy-back price and even before the formal announcement was made, the share price had started slipping.

The company is in the process of setting up a 3,500 MW gas-based power plant in UP. Recently, it also obtained a favourable ruling from the MERC in a dispute with Tata Power on sharing of charges.