Indian Oil shares rise 3.10% on share buyback

Mumbai: Shares of Indian Oil Corp. Ltd rose over 3% Friday after India’s largest oil firm on Thursday said its board of directors approved the buyback of 29.76 crore equity shares of the company for ₹4,435 crore. The share buyback price represents a 8.6% premium to Indian Oil’s Thursday closing price of ₹137.20 on BSE. On Friday, Indian Oil shares rose 3.10%, or ₹4.25, to ₹141.45 apiece on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex closed flat at 35,962.93 points.

The government, which holds a 54.06% stake in the company, is expected to participate in the share buyback. The government is targeting a minimum Rs 5,000 crore through share buyback offers of state-owned firms such as Coal India, BHEL and Oil India Ltd.

Indian Oil said its board has also declared an interim dividend of 67.5%, or ₹6.75 per share, for 2018-19. The total dividend payout, excluding tax will be ₹6,556 crore, of which the government will get Rs 3,544 crore plus the dividend distribution tax. “The public announcement setting out the process, timelines and other requisite details will be released in due course in accordance with the Buyback Regulations,” Indian Oil said.

For interim dividend, Indian Oil said the record date will be 25 December and the money will be credited to the account of shareholders on or before 31 December.

Last month, Oil India Ltd announced a buyback of 5.04 crore of its share for a little over ₹1,085 crore.

Indian Oil Corporation