EPFO may float SPV for investment in equities
New Delhi: The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation may consider floating a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in order to invest a portion of the organization's corpus in equities.

The move to create the SPV follows a recent enabling provision created by the Ministry of Finance, which allows all non-Government provident funds, superannuation funds and gratuity funds to invest in equities of investment grade-rated companies. Government sources indicate that an initial corpus of Rs500 crore may be earmarked for this purpose and returns would be reviewed every three months.

In January, the Finance Ministry had permitted all non-Government provident funds, superannuation funds and gratuity funds to invest up to five per cent of their total portfolios in shares of companies that have an investment grade debt rating from at least two credit rating agencies. The new guidelines came into force from the beginning of this month.

According to the EPFO's estimates, 93 per cent of the total 3.94 crore members have balances below Rs50,000 and of this, 85.39 per cent of the members have balances below Rs20,000. The average balance in this category is Rs2,928. The average balance in the category between Rs20,000 and Rs50,000 is Rs41,719 per member.

In aggregate, for 93 per cent of the membership, whose net balance is less than Rs50,000, the average balance is Rs6,203. For the remaining seven per cent of the membership in the bracket of Rs50,000 to Rs50 lakh and above, the average balance per member is Rs88,729.
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NSE: Technical snag delays operations in F&O segment
Mumbai: Trading in NSE's futures and options segment was halted for a few hours due to technical problems on Monday.

There was a delay in receiving confirmation and to overcome this problem, the NSE closed its F&O segment in the afternoon and restarted trading at 3 p.m.

Due to this, the trading timing was extended till 4 p.m. both in the cash and the F&O segment.
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NSE: Seventy more stocks added to the F&O list
Mumbai: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to increase the number of securities in its futures and options segment in three stages. A total of 70 new securities have been added to the existing list of 53 securities.

In the first stage, trading will start in 34 securities, which have been added from April 20. In the second stage, trading in 23 securities will commence from May 12 and in the final stage trading will start in 13 securities from May 27.

Most of the securities, which have been added to the list are mid-cap stocks, which are very active in the cash segment. Some of the securities added to the list include Divis Laboratories, Essar Oil, Escorts, IFCI, Ashok Leyland and others.
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SREI Infrastructure raises Rs.153 crore through GDR issue
Kolkata: Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL), formerly Srei International Finance Ltd, has successfully raised Rs153 crore ($35 million) through its issue of 8.65-million Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). Priced at $4.05, each GDR represents four underlying equity shares of the company, each with a face value of Rs10.

The GDRs were placed through a book building exercise. Srei's last equity offering through the issue of Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares was in 1996.

Through this issue, Srei becomes the first Indian company in the infrastructure financing business to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Company officials said that the GDR issue was a strategic move by the company to broadbase its investor profile and for creating another window for overseas investors to participate in the infrastructure growth in India. The capital raised would be used to support the growth of the company in the medium and long term.

The GDR issue was taken forward by the London-based Jermyn Capital (JC), a boutique investment arm specialising in GDR issues of medium-sized companies. JC has already handled similar mid-size GDR issues for other Indian companies such as Amtech Auto, Gujarat NRI Coke etc.

Srei, has already established a pan-India presence with a network of 32 offices, and has also ventured overseas and opened offices in Germany, Russia and the UK. The company, according to officials, has grown at a CAGR of over 30 per cent during the last four years.
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Apollo Hospitals plans GDR
Chennai: Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd has announced an offering of global depository receipts for an aggregate amount of up to $135 million (Rs600 crore). The issue will comprise an issue of fresh equity shares in the form of GDRs for an amount of up to $75 million (Rs337 crore) and sponsored issue of GDRs for $60 million (Rs263 crore).

The proceeds from the primary offering will be used to enhance the company's services, particularly in higher technology offerings in cardiac and oncology areas. The company plans to establish a new line of higher secondary care centres in B and C class cities and enhance Apollo's reach and network.
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