Godavari Fertilisers struck an all-time peak today after it was reported that Coromandel Fertilisers has bid for a stake in the company at Rs 124 per share.

The scrip is now locked at its 5% upper deck (at Rs 81.45). A total of 1,000 shares were recorded on BSE by 9:56 IST. At its upper ceiling, the outstanding buy position on the counter was 26,500 shares. In the 15 sessions between 6 and 27 June 2003, Godavari Fertilisers has soared 115.25% to Rs 77.60 from Rs 36.05.

Coromandel Fertilisers, a Murugappa group company, has now emerged as the highest bidder for the 25.88% equity stake in Godavari Fertilisers and Chemicals (GFCL) being divested by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. It has bid, as per reports, at Rs 124 per share for 82,80,000 shares, a 62% premium to the current price of Rs 81.45.

The other two companies in the race, Foskor of South Africa and GCT of Tunisia, have bid at Rs 96 per share and Rs 70 per share, respectively.

However, Coromandel has not yet been declared the winner as one of the disqualified bidders, the consortium led by Krebs Bio, has gone to court, challenging the decision of the Implementation Secretariat to debar it from bidding.

Incorporated in December 1981 at Hyderabad, Godavari Fertilisers and Chemicals went public in 1984. It was jointly promoted by the Andhra Pradesh State Co-operative and the Indian Farm & Fertiliser Co-operative.

The company manufactures di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, with an installed capacity of 3 lakh tpa. Apart from manufacturing, it also trades in fertilisers and chemicals. It is now extending its sphere of operations to designing, construction, supervision, project management, etc, in the form of consultancies.

It also manufactures bio-fertilisers for cotton, groundnut and soyabean. By retrofitting one of the plants with a pipe reactor, the installed capacity has gone up to 5 lakh tpa.

For the full year ended 31 March 2003, the company reported a massive loss of Rs 13.62 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 1.95 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net sales declined by 25.57% to Rs 730.01 crore from Rs 980.74 crore.

As on 31 March 2003, the public and institutions held 30.34% and 0.04% stake in the company, respectively.