Block deal booster for Kotak Bank

DALAL STREET SPIKES

The Kotak Mahindra Bank counter gained nearly three per cent on Wednesday on the back of a block deal of 20.9 lakh shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Following the deal, the counter was among the most active stocks with a total volume of over 24.82 lakh shares.

The scrip closed at Rs 180.60 after hitting the day's high of Rs 184, up 2.96 per cent. The deal was struck between foreign institutional investors CLSA Merchant Bankers buying 15,30,000 shares at Rs 180 and ABN Mauritius buying 5,61,000 share.

The shares were sold by Sloane Robinson. The stock has moved in a narrow range of RS 173 to Rs 176 of late. For the quarter ended June 30, 2004, the bank reported a six per cent growth in net profit at Rs 30.70 crore, on a 33 per cent jump in total revenue to Rs 282.04 crore.