2 min readNew DelhiJun 25, 2013 01:18 AM IST
First published on: Jun 25, 2013 at 01:18 AM IST
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that GMR Energy,a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure,was seeking to sell 100% stake in its Indonesian coal mining unit PT Barasentosa Lestari. WSJ said it had spoken to two people familiar with the matter. The report noted that Standard Chartered is managing the sale process,which could fetch up to $200 million. GMR Infra’s revenues were R8,305 crore in FY13,with a loss of R642 crore.
The highly-leveraged GMR Infra has been trimming its asset portfolio and recently monetised some coal,road and power assets — Highland Power,Homeland Energy and the Jadcherla road project — paring its debt by approximately R6,000 crore. The firm nonetheless reported a R202.6 crore loss in Q4FY13 and its long-term debt could stay above R30,000 crore in March 2014 unless it sells more assets.
The price of coal has been hammered due to slowing demand growth in China,the world’s biggest coal consumer,WSJ noted.
GMR acquired its stake for $80 million in 2009,in order to secure coal for its power projects in India. The quality of the coal is around 3,400 kcal/kg from one block and around 4,300 kcal/kg from the second.
A GMR spokeswoman declined to comment,the financial daily said.
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