60 penny stocks rise 5 to 31 times

study shows that trading volumes for each of these stocks jumped from around 100-1000 shares a day in 2004 to over 10,000-15,000 shares a day in the last four months.

Almost 80 per cent of these stocks belong to "T", "TS" and "Z" groups on which both exchanges have trading restrictions.

These stocks are traded in trade-to"�trade categories, making it mandatory for buyers to take delivery of these stocks. In the past four months, the aggregate market value of these 60 stocks appreciated over seven-fold -- from Rs 9.13 crore on April 20 to Rs 67.63 crore on September 20 before the market witnessed the fall.

Their stellar performance in the stock market was matched by decent corporate results.

During the quarter ended June 2005, these companies posted an aggregate sales growth rate of 66 per cent. In fact, they showed a turnaround, posting a net profit of Rs 34.22 crore compared with a net loss of Rs 1.96 crore in the quarter ended June 2004.

The biggest gainer is Core Projects and Technologies, a B2 group stock. It has shown a 3,108 per cent rise over the past four months -- from Rs 7.48 on April 20 to Rs 240 on September 20, 2005. It has an equity capital of Rs 24 lakh and the promoters hold 85.34 per cent stake. During the year ended March 2005, this information technology firm posted a net profit of Rs 3.06 crore on sales of Rs 8.81 crore.

The list of other gainers includes Kaysee Industries, Aeonian Investments, BF Utilities, KSL and Industries, and Webel SL Energy Systems. Kaysee gained 584 per cent in four months -- from Rs 836.50 to Rs 5724.30. Aeonian Investments gained 558 per cent, from Rs 76.78 to Rs 504.85. BF Utilities gained 583 per cent, from Rs 71 to Rs 484.90.

A top attraction for these stocks was their low values as most of the A and B1 group stocks were expensive. Of the 60 stocks studied here, five were available for 26 paise each four months ago, 13 stocks had a price tag of Rs 1.15-4.95 and 11 of them were available at between Rs 5 and Rs 9.69.