Big Bank piles up IVRCL Infra

STREET SIGNS

Big Bank's desi fund arm has increased its stake in IVRCL Infrastructures stock. After buying nearly 80,000 shares in late September, the fund was at it again.

This time the fund acquired more than a lakh of shares at Rs 696 levels. IVRCL Infrastructures had recently secured two orders totalling Rs 850 crore from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

At present, the company has an order for execution of projects worth Rs 4,500 crore. The Hyderabad-based company has also undertaken a major structural diversification programme to achieve its medium-term goal of doubling its turnover to Rs 3,000 crore by 2008. According to those in the know, IVRCL is expected to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,600 crore this year.

As a part of the plan, the company has set up four different holding companies for different domains of operations - water, desalination, urban infrastructure and power.

These companies will, in turn, float special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to invest in projects. The stock has appreciated by more than 40 per cent in the past four months. Not that Big Bank fund is the only one roaming around the counter.

Phoenix Fund was also a buyer at the counter recently and picked up the shares at Rs 717 levels.

Merry prefers rice

Merry Lunch's sense of timing has to be admired. The fund thinks nothing of the fact that the share price of REI Agro has been on the slide in the past two months.

On the day the company's board wondered aloud whether it is time to create an international subsidiary apart from acquiring domestic and foreign companies for promoting its brands and strengthening distribution systems, Merry got into the counter.

The fund is said to have a bought nearly eight lakh shares at Rs 174 levels. REI Agro is a 600-crore basmati rice processing and marketing company.

It is an integrated player and undertakes right from contract farming to procuring paddy to distribution and retailing. One of I See I See Brokerage's arms predicts REI Agro to post an above 40 per cent revenue growth in FY06, thanks to export led volume growth and aggressive retail push in the domestic helped by steady prices.

Not tyred at all

It seems the promoters are very happy with the way things are turning out the Apollo Tyres counter. One of the promoters is said to have made a big secondary market purchase at the counter recently.

The company had recently announced that it plans to strengthen its research in radial technology for developing new products in the coming month for meeting the demands of Truck and Bus Radial (TBR) tyre market.

This is in preparation for meeting the demand that will be created by the proposed entry of Daimler-Chrysler and Mann of Germany in the Indian trucks market in 2006.

In late September, Apollo Tyres had sold its 49 per cent in its joint venture with Michelin to the French tyre company for about $10 million.