Bombay plans stock buy-back

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 9/2/2002 12:00:00 AM

MUMBAI, INDIA —

Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co., a major producer of textiles products, said it will buy back up to 25 percent of its common stock in open-market transactions.

The company said it will buy back the shares for a maximum purchase price of 65.00 rupees, or about U.S. $1.35, per share. The budget for the buyback, the company said, will not exceed 319.8 million rupees, or about U.S. $6.6 million.

The buy-back price represents a substantial premium over the recent share price of Bombay Dyeing. At the close of trading on Aug. 28, Bombay shares were trading at 50 Indian rupees, down about 2.6 percent, on the Mumbai Stock Exchange.

Among Indian mills, Bombay is a leading exporter of home fashions products into the U.S. market and in 2000 was the largest producer of finished sheets sent into the country, with a dollar volume of about $37 million. Last year, Bombay was the second-largest offshore producer of finished towels brought into the U.S. market with a value of about $16 million. It was the second-largest producer of comforter shells and duvet covers exported into the United States, with a value of roughly $12 million. In addition, the company sent about $7.5 million of table linens into the U.S. market.