Financial year 2010-11,which is about to draw to a close,has seen firms mop up Rs 46,267 crore through public equity issues and the amount is the third-highest,according to Prime Database. Corporates raised Rs 52,219 crore in 2007-08 while they picked up Rs 46,941 crore in 2009-10. Although the year was expected to do much better,the mobilisation is just about the same as in the preceding year, said Prithvi Haldea,MD of Prime Database. Haldea believes more money could have been raised but for the deferment of some large PSU offerings and the continuing volatility in the secondary market,especially in last quarter of the year. Indeed a difficult March 2011 quarter saw just a small amount of Rs 4,468 crore being raised by firms compared with Rs 29,514 crore raised in the three months to December 2010. Tata Steels Rs 3,477 crore follow-on offering went through but the government was compelled to postpone the follow on issues of ONGC and SAIL leaving it about Rs 17,000 crore short of its disinvestment target for 2010-11 of Rs 40,000 crore. Nevertheless,seven PSUs hit the market during 2010-11. Among them Coal India which made the countrys largest-ever IPO of Rs 15,199 crore,by itself accounted for a third of the years mobilisation. However,the total amount raised by PSUs in 2010-11 at Rs 27,537 crore,was lower than Rs 31,082 crore mopped up in 2009-10,highest ever raised by them. The markets have been extremely volatile in the three months to March,2011. There was no pre-Budget rally this year and instead,the sharp spike in crude oil prices,which hit $117 per barrel in late February,left investors skittish. At one point,the Sensex was down close to 16 per cent down from the highs of 21,005 seen last November. The market was extremely volatile; from a level of 20,561 in early January,the Sensex skidded to a low of 17,463 on February 10,2011,before rebounding to 18,447 on March 1,2011 after the union budget promised fiscal discipline. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net sellers so far in 2011 on concerns that the government would not be able to rein in inflation,which as ruled at above 8 per cent for more than a year now. Moreover,FIIs feel growth could slow down with the investment cycle not picking up and little action on the policy front. However they have turned buyers in March. Vinay Menon,ED,Equity Capital Markets,JP Morgan said,With the secondary markets having bounced back,the primary market too should fare well in the months ahead. The three months to June 2011 could be dominated by PSU follow on offerings of SAIL,ONGC and PFC,which together are aiming for Rs 30,000 crore of investor money. FE More offers in the offing * 57 public issues in 2010-11 compared with 44 issues in 2009-10 * FPOs fetched Rs 13,084 crore,for five companies,compared to Rs 21,993 crore mobilised by 5 firms in 2009-10 * Only 45%,or Rs 21,065 crore,was raised through fresh capital with the remaining R25,201 crore raised through offers for sale * Coal India led with 15.96 lakh applications followed by PGCIL with13.89 lakh and MOIL with 12.78 lakh * After four years,only about 20% of applications of retail investors came through ASBA * Collecting Rs 2.33 lakh crore as application money,CIL broke Reliance Powers record of Rs 2.25 lakh crore
