Blue Star To Issue NCDs To Raise Rs 300 Cr

The board of directors at air conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star approved an issue of 3,000 unsecured non-convertible debentures having face value of Rs 10 lakhs each for cash at par aggregating to Rs 300 crore.

It will have an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 50 crore aggregating to Rs 350 crore on a private placement basis, the company said in a statement released after the board meeting.

The proceeds will be used for working capital, capital expenditure, bonafide business purpose, repayment of existing liabilities and other issue related expenses.

All end-use will be for purposes permitted for bank financing by the Reserve Bank of India under its extant guidelines, said Blue Star.

The debentures are proposed to be listed on the wholesale debt market segment on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India Ltd.

Blue Star reported a sharp erosion in its net profit for the quarter ended on March 31 to Rs 8.9 crore due to significant market disruptions caused by the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. In Q4 FY19, it had posted a net profit of Rs 79.84 crore.

The company is working on a few emerging opportunities like developing hi-tech indoor air quality management solutions and accelerating its indigenisation plans.

In an official statement from the company's side, Mr Vir S Advani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Blue Star, “We have always met our working capital as well as capital expenditure requirements by and large through internal accruals. The current National Lockdown, especially during the peak summer season, has impacted our cash flow and consequently, the working capital cycle is likely to get lengthened. We have just resumed production partially in our Wada and Dadra plants and the other operations are set to resume progressively as and when the Government announces relaxations. We foresee demand revival from the second half of the financial year, and it is important to persist with capital expenditure pertaining to indigenization and backward integration programmes to enhance our competitiveness and market leadership. Therefore, it is prudent to infuse additional funds through the issuance of NCDs in order to retain adequate liquidity to support business continuity and growth over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Blue Star has annual revenues of over Rs 5,200 crore, a network of 32 offices, five manufacturing facilities, 2,800 employees and 2.900 channel partners.