Shares of JSW Steel today plunged over 3 per cent in intra-day trade amid controversy over brokerage firm Credit Suisse AG's report that the company has understated its debt by Rs 11,900 crore in 2011-12. Shares fell a little over 3 per cent to a low of Rs 693.35 on the BSE before recovering some of the losses. The stock finally ended the day 1.60 per cent lower at Rs 703.55,even as Credit Suisse issued a clarification today saying that it has no reason to suspect deliberate under-reporting of debt by JSW Steel. Similar movements in the scrip were seen on the National Stock Exchange,where the stock dived 3.33 per cent in the intra-day trade. Later,it closed the day at Rs 702,down 1.93 per cent. "We have no reason to suspect any such thing (deliberate under-reporting of debt by the company) and it is far from the intent of our analysis. The phrase 'debt effectively higher' better describes what we sought to put across," Credit Suisse said. Meanwhile JSW in a public statement said,"All our documents and financials are in complete compliance with the governing laws and regulations. As such it is extremely disappointing to see such a glaring instance of mistaken facts," JSW said in the public statement. It added that JSW prepares its financial statements as per Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Indian GAAP) and they have been audited by a reputed Chartered Accountants' firm. In the July 6 note,the Switzerland-based global brokerage firm had said,"While the reported FY'12-end net debt was Rs 16,600 crore,we believe it was understated by at least Rs 11,900 crore."
