Nitin Fire to come out with IPO on May 15

Mumbai, May 7 (UNI) Nitin Fire Protection Industries Limited will enter the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) of 33,90,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each on May 15, with an employee reservation of 1,50,000 equity shares for cash at premium that will be decided through 100 per cent book-building process.

The price band of the issue has been fixed between Rs 171 and Rs 190 per equity share. The subscription to the issue wil start on May 15 and close on May 18.

During the financial year 2006-07, NFPIL has recorded a total income of Rs 1,017.11 million and a net profit after taxation of Rs 99.86 million as against the total income of Rs 726.06 million and a net profit of Rs 65.26 million in the previous fiscal 2005-06. As on March 31, the net worth (consolidated) of the company was Rs 341.80 million.

Karvy Investor Services Limited and UTI Securities Limited are the book running lead managers to the issue.

NFPIL chairman and managing director Nitin Shah said ''We are entering the capital market through the public issue to set up a high pressure seamless cylinder plant at the Vishakapatnam SEZ through investment in our wholly-owned subsidiary Nitin Cylinders Limited.'' Mr Shah said the demand for CNG is increasing all over the world and India is also preparing for the rising cost of crude oil. With more and more vehicles switching over to CNG, the demand is bound to increase.

The CNG vehicles are increasing at a rate of 25-30 per cent every year in India and the number will reach 50 million in Asia, if only 5 per cent of the cars shift to CNG. The increasing cost of crude oil is forcing people to switch over to CNG and if the cost of crude oil does not come down below USD 40 per barrel, then the cost of petrol will increase and the demand for CNG will go up, he added.

UNI