BPCL stock falls about 5% on the back of treasury stake sale

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (BPCL’s) stock, which had gained 43% since October and was trading near 52-week highs, was down almost 5% in the morning trades on Tuesday. The fall comes on the back of reports of the company’s move to sell treasury stake worth over ₹3,700 crore.

A sub-committee of the board of directors of BPCL had approved the sale of the company’s equity shares held by BPCL Trust for Investment in Shares. The total number of equity shares being offered is up to 158,993,397 equity shares held by the above trust. With the stake sale progressing on Tuesday, the stock was bound to trend lower. Nevertheless, the stake sale also signals progress on resolving the key issues related to privatization, say analysts who also expect BPCL to distribute proceeds from the treasury sale as dividends.