GAIL Ltd, a state-owned company, announced today that its board of directors will meet on March 31 to discuss share buybacks.
“The Board of Directors of the Company will meet on Thursday, March 31, 2022, to consider, among other things, the Buy-Back of the Company’s fully paid-up equity shares,” the company said in a filing. GAIL imports and distributes gas while also operating India’s largest gas pipeline network.
Typically, companies will engage in share buybacks in order to increase market demand. Share buybacks decrease the number of shares in circulation, which can raise the value of the stock and earnings per share (EPS).
GAIL (India) Ltd. is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas with the mission of accelerating and optimising the effective and economical use of natural gas and its fractions for the benefit of the national economy.
GAIL, which began as a gas transmission company in the late 1980s, has grown organically by constructing a large network of natural gas pipelines covering over 11,000 km; two LPG pipelines covering more than 2,000 km; six gas processing plants for the production of LPG and other liquid hydrocarbons, with a combined production capacity of around 1.3 MMTPA, and an 810,000 TPA gas-based integrated petrochemical plant.
The company also owns 70% of Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), which has built a 280,000 TPA polymer plant in Assam. GAIL is also a co-promoter of ONGC Petro-additions Limited (OPaL), which is building a greenfield petrochemical complex with 1.4 MMTPA polymer capacity in Dahej, Gujarat.
The company has moved upstream into the Exploration and Production business, with stakes in 11 E&P blocks, including two in Myanmar. GAIL has also diversified downstream into the fast-growing retail City Gas Distribution business in India and abroad. On the NSE, GAIL shares closed 0.41 percent higher at 147.70 per share on Friday.
