Hours before the death of Suzlon's Founder and CMD Tulsi Tanti on October 1, IC Mangal, CEO-Global OMS, Suzlon told Business Today that all the challenges were behind for the company and was now set for a comeback. Earlier, the debt of Suzlon piled up during the global financial crisis as they were not able to fully utilise the resources to their full potential. However, the debt has reduced substantially, and the amount collected through the forthcoming rights issue will also be utilised for the payment of debt.
The latest financial data provided by Suzlon showed that the unaudited consolidated net debt of the company stood at Rs 2,774 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. The figure stood at Rs 5,796 crore in the preceding quarter ended March 31, 2022. The total consolidated debt of Suzlon was around Rs 17,000 crore in FY15. Meanwhile, shares of the company have declined 98 per cent to Rs 8.72 on October 1, 2022 against its adjusted all-time high of Rs 460, scaled on January 9, 2008.
In a regulatory filing, Suzlon said, “With profound sadness, we inform you of the untimely demise of Shri Tulsi R Tanti, the Founder, the Chairman & Managing Director, and one of the promoters of Suzlon Energy Limited on 1st October 2022. Shri Tanti suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away the same day.” Market watchers believe that the news will not affect the company's Rs 1,200 right issue.
The company will issue up to 240 crore partly paid-up equity shares for cash at a price of Rs 5 per rights equity share on a rights basis to its eligible shareholders in the ratio of 5 rights equity shares for every 21 fully paid-up equity shares held by the eligible shareholder. The company has fixed October 4 as the record date for the purpose of the rights issue. The last date of on-market renunciation of rights entitlement is October 14, 2022.
Commenting on the rights issue and the company, market watcher Arun Kejriwal said that the demise of Tulsi Tanti will not affect the right issue. “In the initial years, Suzlon rose like a phoenix. After that, it witnessed a faster dramatic fall. At present, when the second innings of the company was to be played out ahead of the rights issue and everything was set for the comeback for Suzlon this unfortunate news came. The only sad thing is the man who created the company in 1995 will not be able to see the ‘U-turn.”
In terms of financials, the company witnessed a bumpy ride in terms of profit and losses. For the financial year ended March 31, 2022, Suzlon reported a consolidated loss of Rs 166 crore against a profit of Rs 100 crore in FY21. Earlier, it posted a loss of Rs 2,691 crore and Rs 1,531 crore in FY20 and FY19.
Sharing his views on losses and the volatile financial numbers, Mangal said, “There are no losses from the business point of view. We have seen losses because the company is committed to paying its debt and interest without any default. As the debt has reduced, the major portion of the debt which was going for the repayment of debt will be there on the balance sheet. Hopefully, results will be positive for Suzlon on a quarter-on-quarter basis.”
Also read:Tulsi Tanti death: Suzlon needs a lot of wind to keep going
Also read:Suzlon Energy founder Tulsi Tanti passes away due to cardiac arrest
