Despite ample liquidity, promoters finding it difficult to raise funds

Promoters of nearly 140 companies pledged more shares of the companies they own in the April-June quarter over the previ ous quarter, according to an ET study. Brokers said decline in share prices coupled with difficul ty in raising money have prompted promoters to mount share pledges in the quarter.

Promoters of almost 790 compa nies have pledged their shares with lenders. Out of this, nearly 100 firms reduced their pledges during the June quarter.

Some of the companies, in which the number of shares pledged have increased since April this year are Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Adlabs Entertainment, Adani Ports Parsvnath Developers, Reliance Power and Adani Enterprises.

Promoters of Sun Pharma have pledged about 51 lakh shares worth nearly Rs 500 crore during the quarter. "Despite the excess liquidity, many of the promoters are finding it tough to raise funds," said Akshay Gupta, CEO & MD, Indiabulls Mutual Fund.

"On the other hand, the phenomenon of promoters raising funds through the issue of non-convertible de bentures by pledg ing their shares in the form as security has gained momen tum in the past few months. Promoters find this easier and cheaper compared to raising funds from banks and NBFCs," he said.

KAL Airways Pri vate, promoters of Sun TV, recently Rs 200 crore through priraised about ` vate placement of short-term nonconvertible debentures (NCDs) backed by pledge of shares of Sun TV.

Similarly, Adani Power raised Rs 1,000 crore through NCDs by pledg` ing shares of Adani Ports. While Sensex declined by 2.5% be tween April and June, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down by 2% each. As on June 30, promoters have pledged shares worth Rs 1.84 lakh crore compared with 1.94 crore as on March 31. In about 60 companies, including Pipavav Defence, Bajaj Hindusthan, IL&FS Investment Managers, IVRCL, Gayatri Projects, Alok Industries, Suzlon Energy among others, promoters have pledged their entire stake.