Bhushan Steel surges 34 percent in two sessions as lenders' forum agree to refinance Rs 35k-cr loans

Shares of Bhushan Steel maintained its upward march in early Monday trade, surging nearly 34 percent in two trading sessions aided by last week’s positive development in which a joint lenders’ forum agreed to refinance the company’s Rs 35,000 crore loans for infrastructure projects. Riding on the back of the development, Bhushan Steel stock at 11.25 am was up 14 percent at Rs 69.15, despite a lacklustre broad market sentiment with benchmark Sensex falling 100 points at 26,668.79. The stock has so far gained 18 percent in today’s trade. On Friday, the Bhushan Steel stock jumped 20 percent after falling nearly 3 percent in intra-day trade. [caption id=“attachment_2284548” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] In fact, the stock eased to its 52-week low to Rs 49 in intra-day trade Friday, but bounced back sharply thereafter following the move. In a release issued to BSE, the company said, “The Joint Lenders Forum have agreed to extend loans of BSL for a tenure of 25 years under the said scheme. However, the respective authorities of the banks have to approve the scheme, which is under process with the respective banks.” According to a report, a consortium of bankers involving Punjab National Bank (PNB), State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of India and Dena Bank have a a total exposure of about Rs 40,000 crore in the company. However, the stock began plummeting since last year and has crashed around 85 percent since then, especially, after the company’s vice-chairman & managing director Neeraj Singal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation last year for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Syndicate Bank chairman & managing director SK Jain. In the fourth quarter ended March 31, Bhushan Steel’s losses jumped to Rs 361 crore from Rs 19.57 crore a year ago, highlighting the company’s woes over high debt level, rising interest cost and sluggish demand.