KARACHI, Sept 11: Tritex Cotton Mills Limited presented the revised rate per share for approval of its voluntary de-listing. In a letter to the Stock Exchange, this textile unit of the Lakson group, calculated minimum price per share on the basis of average market price (annualized) at Rs9.82 per share.

The Tritex Cotton’s buy-back looks to be lingering since 1997 when the company had made the initial offer at Rs10 per share.

In the letter this week, the company stated that in continuation of its letter of July 24 and in response to the KSE letter dated July 25, 2003, the company had calculated revised rate per share under the methods given in the revised listing regulations pertaining to voluntary de-listing of companies.

According to calculations submitted by the company, break-up value based on historical cost worked out at Rs0.837 per share for the year ended September 30, 2002; Rs2.723 per share for 2001 and Rs3.131 for 2000. On the basis of Earning Multiplier approach (for profitable companies) estimated earnings for 2002 at 45 per cent of Rs0.06 worked out to Rs0.027; at 35 per cent of Rs1.98 stood at Rs0.693 and for 2001 at 20 per cent of Rs1.70 was calculated at Rs0.340. On the basis of 2001 earning per share which stood at Rs1.98 and the average stock market price of the stock being Rs9, the price-to-earnings (p/e) ratio worked out at 4.5455. The total of estimated earnings of years 2000 to 2002 multiplied by p/e ratio of 4.5455 gave the fair value of Rs4.82. Average market price for all of the last three years stood unchanged at Rs9 per share. The current price of the stock was Rs17.25.

Tritex Cotton Mills Limited has not been able to distribute a dividend in the recent years. From the company’s communication to the stock exchange, it is not quite clear at what price per share, it proposed to buy-back small shareholders’ stake. During the current bull market, the stock has also come under some speculative pressure with the share trading between the high and low of Rs23.75 and Rs9 per share, between Jan-August, 2003.