KARACHI: The Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited (EPCL) intends to raise up Rs 5.4 billion through the issue of new ordinary shares, it announced Wednesday. EPCL is the only fully integrated Chlor-Vinyl chemical complex in Pakistan. It is a subsidiary of Engro Corporation, involved in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of quality Chlor-Vinyl allied products and PVC under brand name ‘SABZ’. On Wednesday, at a meeting of the Board of Directors of EPCL, the Board of Directors resolved that the Company intends, in the near future, to carry out a right issue of ordinary shares at a premium. The aggregate amount of proposed right issue will be utilized to fund the addition of new PVC Plant of 100,000 MT & VCM Plant debottlenecking of 50,000 MT per annum. In a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the Company Secretary Shazeb Siddiki said the estimated overall CAPEX of the said Project is approximately Rs 7.6 billion, which is intended to be partially funded through issuance of right shares of approximately Rs 5.4 billion. The share price (to be determined in the future) for the proposed right issue will not exceed Rs 30 per share, added Siddiki. The purpose of the same is to enable the Sponsor(s) of the Company to obtain shareholders’ approval to invest in the potential right issue and provide an undertaking to the Company to subscribe to its entitlement (once the same is resolved) in accordance with the provisions of the Companies (Issue of Capital) Rules 1996, which would in turn allow the Company to carry out a right issue of shares. The Board further resolved that it shall approve and announce the actual right issue at a future date in accordance with the applicable laws once the Sponsor(s) of the Company has/have obtained the necessary approvals. During the nine months 2017 period, the Company recorded revenue of Rs. 20,390 million compared to Rs. 16,610 million in the same period last year and posted Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 1,947 million translating into Earning Per Share (EPS) of Rs. 2.93 Per share compared to Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 32 million translating into Earning Per Share (EPS) of Rs. 0.05 for the same period last year. Published in Daily Times, March 15th 2018.