Pratibha Shipping to market IPO soon
Mauritian deal puts Pratibha Shipping to go on a growth overdrive.
By TNN |
Pratibha Shipping Company, a closely held company belonging to Sharad Pawar family, has advanced its plans to go public, and the IPO is likely to hit the market within next few months.
The latest development that facilitated the fast-growing shipping company's fortunes is the bagging of the contract of afreightment (CoA) from State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius. This follows the recent FoB (free-on-board) purchase contract signed between STC of Mauritius and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), for the supply of petroleum products worth $2 billion.
In order to fulfil its contractual bligations, Pratibha Shipping is all set to multiply its tonnage ramatically.
“The 3-year COA with STC of Mauritius was signed last fortnight and supply will commence from the second week of August 2007,” said Sunil Pawar, managing director of Pratibha Shipping.
“We have won 3/4th of the contract and are negotiating for the remaining. This has been possible on account of the good relations we developed with the Mauritian government and the confidence we have earned having provided total customer satisfaction during the last one year when we handled shipments of petroleum products made by MRPL to that country on C&F basis.
Presently the company fleet consists of six tankers (5 products’ and 1 crude tanker) of a total tonnage of 230,000 dwt. To meet the additional demand, it is in the process of adding two additional product tankers and two crude tankers each of between 40,000 dwt to 100,000 dwt at a cost of $ 200 million. Its vessel “Pratibha Cauvery” is the first Indian flag ship to get fully converted to double hull. Two more of its vessels will also undergo conversion to double hull at Cosco Shipyard, China, and are expected to be commissioned in four to five months.
Mr Pawar feels that the company’s success is the result of its undertaking all operations in-house, including manning, and ship-management. “We had tried outsourcing ship-management to other parties but reverted back when we found that the ships’ condition had deteriorated,” he stated. “We are looking to enter into a joint venture provided opportunities exist for expansion.” said SB Sawant, GM (commerical).
The latest development that facilitated the fast-growing shipping company's fortunes is the bagging of the contract of afreightment (CoA) from State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius. This follows the recent FoB (free-on-board) purchase contract signed between STC of Mauritius and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), for the supply of petroleum products worth $2 billion.
In order to fulfil its contractual bligations, Pratibha Shipping is all set to multiply its tonnage ramatically.
“The 3-year COA with STC of Mauritius was signed last fortnight and supply will commence from the second week of August 2007,” said Sunil Pawar, managing director of Pratibha Shipping.
“We have won 3/4th of the contract and are negotiating for the remaining. This has been possible on account of the good relations we developed with the Mauritian government and the confidence we have earned having provided total customer satisfaction during the last one year when we handled shipments of petroleum products made by MRPL to that country on C&F basis.
Presently the company fleet consists of six tankers (5 products’ and 1 crude tanker) of a total tonnage of 230,000 dwt. To meet the additional demand, it is in the process of adding two additional product tankers and two crude tankers each of between 40,000 dwt to 100,000 dwt at a cost of $ 200 million. Its vessel “Pratibha Cauvery” is the first Indian flag ship to get fully converted to double hull. Two more of its vessels will also undergo conversion to double hull at Cosco Shipyard, China, and are expected to be commissioned in four to five months.
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“We are going public as part of our expansion plan,” stated Mr Pawar. “The revenue having shot by 55% from Rs 100 crore to Rs 155 crore in the last fiscal year, the company is now targeting Rs 250 crore for the current year. Our performance would have been better but for the vessels conversion programme to double hull. The company has plans to diversify into the offshore services sector and the bulk carrier segment for transporting mainly coal and iron ore for some of the power and steel companies with whom it is in the process of negotiations.”Mr Pawar feels that the company’s success is the result of its undertaking all operations in-house, including manning, and ship-management. “We had tried outsourcing ship-management to other parties but reverted back when we found that the ships’ condition had deteriorated,” he stated. “We are looking to enter into a joint venture provided opportunities exist for expansion.” said SB Sawant, GM (commerical).
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