Coal India’s shares fell over 5% after the Indian government announced plans to sell a 3% interest in the firm through an offer for sale (OFS) commencing today. The government hopes to generate Rs 4,200 crore ($567 million) through the two-day OFS by selling up to 1.5% of total paid-up stock. On March 26, retail investors will be able to purchase shares. Non-institutional investors have till Friday to submit bids for the retail category. Profits at Coal India declined 18% year on year, while income from operations increased 17%.

 Coal India shares slumped about 5% on Thursday as the government revealed plans to sell a 3% interest in the state-run miner through an offer for sale (OFS). The government expects to generate Rs 4,200 crore from the two-day OFS, which begins today.

The government has proposed selling up to 9.24 crore shares, or 1.50% of total paid-up equity, as a base offer, with an option to sell an additional 9.24 crore shares, or 1.5% of firm stock, if oversubscription occurs.

The government has proposed selling up to 9.24 crore shares, or 1.50% of total paid-up equity, as a base offer, with an option to sell an additional 9.24 crore shares, or 1.5% of firm stock, if oversubscription occurs.

Non-retail investors can subscribe to the OFS on Thursday, while retail investors can subscribe to the share sale on Friday. The offer’s floor price has been set at Rs 225, a 6.7% reduction to Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 241.20. Retail investors will receive about 10% of the deal.

Non-institutional bidders can indicate their intent to carry on their unallocated bids to Friday for allocation if the retail category remains unsubscribed.

Today’s drop is the third in a row for Coal India shares, which has lost more than 6% in this time frame.

According to Trendlyne statistics, Coal India’s shares have gained 17% over a one-year period, outperforming the Nifty50, which has returned close to 12%.

The state-owned enterprise reported an 18% drop in consolidated net profit for the quarter ending March 31. The profit after tax (PAT) for the fourth quarter of FY23 was Rs 5,528 crore, compared to Rs 6,715 crore in the same quarter last year. Its income from operations was Rs 38,152 crore in Q4 FY23, an increase of 17% year on year from Rs 32,709 crore in Q4 FY22.

After the publication of Q4 results, brokerage company Nuvama advised a ‘Buy’ on the stock with a price objective of Rs 365.

The decline in this largecap company with a market value of over Rs 1.42 lakh crore occurred amid high volumes. Around 9:40 a.m. today, over 6.2 million shares were on the market.