04 April 2004	Sunday	13 Safar 1425

ISLAMABAD, April 3: The Privatization Commission has so far benefited 197,887 small applicants through public offerings of GoP shareholding in National Bank of Pakistan, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company.

According to a handout issued here on Saturday, the PC's step was aimed at meeting the government's firm commitment to pass on the benefits of privatization to the common man.

The amount realized through the sale of shares of these entities comes to Rs10.39 billion. NBP shares were sold to 33,200 applicants through an IPO and two secondary public offerings for Rs1.7 billion.

The offerings were oversubscribed and at the present average rate of Rs60 per share, the divested shares have shown an increase of 200 per cent in value and are presently worth about Rs5.26 billion.

An amount of Rs6.88 billion was realized through the IPO of OGDCL shares from 97,570 applicants. The IPO was eight times oversubscribed and at the present average price of Rs61 per share, the divested shares have shown an increase of 91pc in value and are worth about Rs13.12 billion.

The secondary public offering of SSGC shares fetched Rs1.74 billion and was oversubscribed by 15 times, setting a new records. With the average price of Rs34 per share, the divested shares have shown an increase of 31pc and are presently valued at Rs2.28 billion.

The total proceeds of these capital market transactions come to Rs10.39 billion and after accounting for the recent price appreciation experienced by the three stocks, the value of the divested shares stands at Rs20.66 billion, resulting in an unprecedented capital gain of Rs10.28 billion, mostly to small investors.

The Privatization Commission has planned to continue such offerings with proper sequencing. The three shares already planned for divestment through the stock exchanges include PIAC, PPL and Kapco, with a focused approach to give preference to smaller applicants.

Keeping in view the ample liquidity available in the capital markets and the pleasant experience from the recent offerings, the upcoming offerings are likely to see a good response from the general public which should serve to increase the investor base and would further contribute to the strength of the stock markets by increasing the market capitalization as witnessed in the earlier offerings.