Russian gas company Gazprom has authorised the sale of 3.6% of its shares in its second public offering this year, according to a report by Reuters.
This is in order to complete the sale of its “quasi-treasury” shares, which do not have dividend payments on them.
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Gazprom stated that it would sell 850.6 million ordinary shares in Moscow today, with the stake estimated to be worth RUB211bn ($3.3bn), based on Gazprom’s share price of RUB248 ($3.89) on Wednesday 20 November.
Gazprom’s first public offering in 2019 took place in July, with the company selling $2.2bn to an unknown buyer at a discount.
Raiffeisenbank analyst Andrey Polischuk told Reuters: “Now, the question is about the scheme of the sale, last time it was one buyer. If the shares are sold on the market, we could see its price falling as the quantity is quite big.”
The company expects that its investments will peak in 2020, following the completion of major undersea gas pipeline projects such as Nord Stream 2 to connect Europe to its reserves in Northern Russia and TurkStream to connect to Turkey via the Black Sea.
Gazprom’s share price has risen by over 5% to RUB258.44 ($4.05) at the time of writing, giving the company a market capitalisation value of over RUB6tn ($94bn). This is only slightly down from the company’s peak of RUB270.74 ($4.25) on 7 November.
Gazprom share price in 2019
Offshore Technology has approached Gazprom for comment. The company recorded revenue of $131bn in 2018, a 16.7% rise from 112.3bn in 2017. Its net income also rose by 89.3% from $12.25bn in 2017 to $23.2bn in 2018, making it Russia’s most profitable company.
