87% stocks made a killing in FY04

In fiscal 2003-04, 87 per cent of the total stocks traded on the bourses emerged gainers and only 13 per cent ended the year at values lower than at the beginning of the year.

Out of the 1,388 actively-traded stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), stock prices of 1,204 companies soared while 184 stocks finished with losses..

Out of the 1,388 actively-traded stocks, five stocks gained between 1,000 per cent and a huge 2,600 per cent, 31 stocks posted returns between 501 per cent and 1,000 per cent, 521 stocks between 101-500 per cent and 307 stocks between 51-100 per cent. The remaining stocks gained between 1 per cent and 50 per cent.

Of the total lot, 645 stocks (46.5 per cent) out-performed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex. The Sensex gained 83.4 per cent, from 3,048.72 on March 31, 2003, to 5,590.60 on March 31, 2004, while these 645 stocks appreciated more than that.

In the same period, the broad-based BSE-500 index gained 109.4 per cent and the S&P CNX Nifty gained 81.14 per cent.

Out of the 30 stocks in the Sensex basket, 14 stocks posted more than 100 per cent returns. Bharti Tele-Ventures tops the list of gainers with a 446.5 per cent gain in its stock prices which moved up from Rs 28.30 to Rs 154.65 in the course of the year.

Reliance Energy (formerly BSES) was the second biggest gainer with a 256 per cent rise, followed by Tata Power (233.3 per cent), Grasim Industries (223.4 per cent), Tata Motors (212 per cent), Larsen & Toubro (211 per cent), Tata Steel (186.7 per cent), BHEL (170.6 per cent), Hero Honda (160.3 per cent), ONGC (136.2 per cent), Hindalco (127.7 per cent), State Bank of India (124.4 per cent), ICICI Bank (120.9 per cent) and Zee Telefilms (114.7 per cent).

Overall, a small capitalisation company Bhansali Engineering Polymers, emerged as the top gainer with a mind boggling 2,566.7 per cent rise in its stock price""from Rs 0.60 on March 31, 2003, to Rs 16 on March 31, 2004.

Another penny stock Glofame Cotspin Industries ranks second in the overall gainers' list. Its stock price surged 1,232.9 per cent from Rs 0.85 to Rs 11.33 over the one year period.

Automobile Corporation of Goa posted returns of 1,100 per cent, thus finishing third in the gainers' list, as its price jumped from Rs 11.40 to Rs 136.80.

Mercator Lines ranked fourth in the list with a 1,090 per cent rise, followed by K C Bokadia Films (1,089.3 per cent), Gujarat NRE Coke (845.4 per cent), Balkrishna Industries (817.8 per cent) and KEC International (764.7 per cent).

In absolute price rise terms, Motor Industries (MICO) ranked first with a Rs 9,741.70 gain, as its market price surged from Rs 3,720 to Rs 13,461.70. State Bank of Mysore stood second with a Rs 1,359 gain, followed by Divi's Labs (Rs 1,229.10), Zandu Pharma (Rs 1,207.65), State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (Rs 1,189.45), Matrix Labs (Rs 1,151.95), State Bank of Travancore (Rs 1,136.90) and Infosys Technologies (Rs 897.85).

But among the 184 losers, Gujarat Fiscon ended with a 94.9 per cent loss in value, followed by Kolar Biotech (94.6 per cent), Soundcraft Industries (92.6 per cent), Mefcon Agro (86.4 per cent), Prraneta Industries (83.1 per cent), Pan Packaging (81.9 per cent) and Brijalaxmi Leasing and Finance (80.5 per cent).