Reliance Communication rings on possible value unlocking

Reliance Communication spurted 5.95% to Rs 648.20 at 10:48 IST on BSE on reports its 95% owned tower business subsidiary is planning to raise nearly Rs 5,000-6,000 crore through an initial public offering.

The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 844 on 10 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 371.25 on 16 March 2007.

The scrip had underperformed the market in the one month to 1 February 2008, falling 16.59% as against the Sensex's 10.33% decline. It had also underperformed the market in the past three months, slipping 22.13% against the Sensex's 8.68% slide.

India’s second largest listed telecom firm by sales has an equity capital of Rs 1032 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

At the current price of Rs 648.20, the scrip trades at a PE multiple of 76.61, based on Q3 December 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 8.46.

Reliance hopes to sell 10% of the post-issue capital in Reliance Telecom Infrastructure and will file a prospectus for the IPO with the regulator this week, reports suggest.

Reliance Telecom Infrastructure, which owns about 25,000 mobile towers, plans to expand them 40,000 by March and to 60,000 a year later, Chairman Anil Ambani said in an investor conference call last week.

Reliance Communication’s net profit fell 43.4% to Rs 436.48 crore on 11.8% rise in sales to Rs 3403.52 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.

Reliance Communication provides telecommunication services. The company provides wireless, wire line, voice, data and Internet communication services.